A candidate for Bloomington’s police chief position says he was treated unfairly when the city mishandled his application. The city says the accident did not place him at any disadvantage.
David Byrd, a lieutenant colonel in the Illinois State Police, took his concerns public Monday night at the Bloomington City Council meeting. Addressing council members during public comment, Byrd said the city misplaced his police chief application, which he submitted before the July 7 deadline.
“I say all of this to you so you can have a clear picture of how unjustly I was treated throughout this whole process,” Byrd said. “I know my worth, and for me not to get the opportunity to get to interview for the police chief position in the City of Bloomington is a complete travesty.”
Byrd was “accidentally excluded from the applicant list at one point during this still ongoing process,” Deputy City Manager Billy Tyus told WGLT.
“This was rectified several days ago as soon as it came to the city’s attention and has not placed him at any disadvantage. City Manager (Tim Gleason) confirmed no other staff oversights were made,” he said.
Byrd is an assistant deputy director in the office of the director at Illinois State Police in Chicago. He’s worked at State Police for 30 years and was recently a finalist for the police chief job in Evanston.
“I still don’t know what happened to my application,” Byrd said.
As of July 5—just two days before the July application deadline—Gleason told WGLT that over 40 candidates had applied for the job. Between 25 and 30 met the qualifications at that time, he said.
The candidates are being screened by a selection committee, which includes Gleason, former Bloomington Police Chief Brendan Heffner, and Public Safety and Community Relations Board chair Art Taylor, among others.
“The selection process remains ongoing,” Tyus said Tuesday. “Preliminary interviews have been conducted by the selection committee. At this time, every individual that applied remains an active candidate. The city is confident in the integrity of the hiring process.”
Byrd said Wednesday he thinks this job opportunity has already “passed me by,” and he’s moving on.
“The (city’s) response of, ‘I’m sorry, but oh well,’ doesn’t fly with me. It just doesn’t. I refuse to let someone treat me that way,” Byrd said.
People like you value experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning journalism that covers meaningful stories in Bloomington-Normal. To support more stories and interviews like this one, please consider making a contribution.
