King City residents concerned about instability of police department

King City has had three different police chiefs in the past year and a fourth will soon be on the way. Some residents said they don’t like the instability of the department.

“It does bring concerns, and like anything, you get up every morning and you think it’s going to be a great day and life has unexpected events,” Areli Mancera Calderon said. “And yes, it’s sad to say we had a shooting nearby.”

There have been two shootings in King City so far this year. Mayor Rob Cullen said he understands the town’s concerns, but said the city is moving toward hiring a permanent chief.

“It’s complex and it’s confusing for people, but just understand that the changes that we’ve had are a result of the cap in how many hours these retired police chiefs can do while we have a recruitment for a permanent police chief,” Mayor Rob Cullen said.

Cullen is talking about Retired Chief Tony Sollecito who was chief in 2015 and then retired. Chief Ron Forgue was hired but terminated just a few months later, bringing Sollecito back as Interim Chief. Sollecito’s last day was Thursday.

After receiving almost 20 applications, City Manager Steve Adams said he’s narrowed his search for a new police chief to two candidates. Adams said the two candidates have strong backgrounds in what the city is looking for.

“Somebody with a very high level of integrity, somebody that has strong technical skills in law enforcement so they can help us implement new programs and ideas and things we want to do for the safety of the community,” Adams said.

Beginning Friday, Captain Darius Engels is taking over as Interim Chief until the city hires a permanent replacement.

“I’ve been a chief six years in Pacific Grove, and so it really is just about taking the fundamentals of police work and just continuing on, handing the baton to the next chief when he arrives,” Engels said.

City officials hope to choose the new chief within two weeks, and that person will start in May or June.

“They’re going to have to hit the ground running because we need strong leadership in this community,” Calderon said.