Police chief race down to 3: A Florida deputy chief and two local captains

Jeff Hadley, a police captain in Fort Wayne, Ind., and one of the two outside finalists to become Cedar Rapids police chief, is out of the running for the job.

Hadley, 37, who is a finalist for the job of Kalamazoo, Mich., public safety chief, has told the Kalamazoo Gazette that he did not get the Cedar Rapids job.

City Manager Jim Prosser said Thursday that he will name Cedar Rapids' new chief early next week in time for the City Council to act on the selection at its Wednesday evening meeting.

Three finalist candidates remain in the hunt: Kenneth Greg Graham, 46, deputy police chief in Ocala, Fla., and Steve O'Konek, 46, and Bernie Walther, 47, Cedar Rapids police captains.

Graham had been a finalist in January to become chief in Bellevue, Wash., but city officials there picked a local candidate.

The new chief will replace Mike Klappholz, who retired in March.

During a first round of interviews, Mo Sheronick, assistant city attorney, noted that the Cedar Rapids department has not had a chief from outside its ranks for more than 30 years.

Earlier this year, a consultant helping the city find a new chief, the Police Executive Research Forum, Washington, D.C., said most times a chief comes from outside a department when it is called into help in a police chief search.