Meet-and-greet Tuesday for Greenville police chief finalists

Local residents have an opportunity Tuesday to meet the five finalists for the position of the next Greenville police chief.

Acting Greenville Police Chief Will Cole and Quinlan ISD Police Chief Steve Walden are among the finalists  in the running to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of former Chief Scott Smith.

A meet-and-greet event is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Fletcher Warren Civic Center, 5501 Business U.S. 69 South in Greenville.

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.