Five named as finalists for Greenville police chief

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Acting Greenville Police Chief Will Cole and Quinlan Police Chief Steve Walden are among five finalists for the position of next Greenville police chief.

The finalists are in the running to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of former Greenville Police Chief Scott Smith.

An event is scheduled for later this month to let members of the public meet with the finalists, who are from departments in Texas both big and small.

Cole and Walden, a former Greenville officer, are joined as finalists by Andrew Hawkes, police chief from Sunnyvale; Heather Morris, a retired assistant police chief in Houston; and Christopher Smith, an assistant chief deputy with the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office.

The Greenville City Council announced its search for a new police chief in mid-March after Smith retired on Feb. 2. Cole has been functioning as acting chief since then.

The meet-and-greet with the finalists will start at 6 p.m. May 17 at the Fletcher Warren Civic Center, 5501 Business U.S. 69 South in Greenville.