Seventeen candidates applied for the job of Crossville police chief.

Crossville City Manager Greg Wood said Friday, “We’ve got a good pool of applicants. That will make it a tough choice.”

Wood said he hopes to schedule interviews with finalists in the next two weeks. He’s forming an interview panel to include himself, Cumberland County Sheriff Casey Cox, and Municipal Technical Advisory Service consultant Warren Nevad. 

The following individuals have applied for the position:

•Jessie Brooks — Tennessee Highway Patrol captain for the Knoxville District, supervising 11 counties, with 43 years of experience. Holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in criminal justice from Bethel University and completed the Northwestern University Staff and Command class. 

•Tony L. Davis Jr. — lieutenant with the Crossville Police Department, previously serving as patrol captain, tactical response team commander, and taser and DUI instructor. He began his law enforcement career in 1991 with the city of Crossville.

•Robert L. Edwards — chief deputy with the Humphreys County Sheriff’s Department in West Tennessee. He began his law enforcement career with the department in 1997 and has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in criminal justice and completed the Northwestern University 12-week leadership course for Police Staff and Command.

•Jon Mark Fehlman — currently serves as a law enforcement consultant with Thatcher Lewis, LLC, of Murfreesboro, TN. He served as chief of police for the Bainbridge Island Police Department in Washington from 2008 to 2012, various positions with the Santa Rosa Police Department in California from 1996 to 2008, and as a police officer with the Laguna Beach Police Department. He has a master’s in emergency services administration from California State University and a bachelor’s in workforce education and development from Southern Illinois University. 

•Richard M. Holt — served as law enforcement administrator and program coordinator for the Tennessee Highway Safety Office from 1998 to 2017. Previously served as chief of police for Cookeville, administrative service commander for the city of Brentwood, and began his career with the Nashville Police Department in 1973. He has a bachelor’s in criminal justice from Belmont University.

•William N. Kain — currently serving as chief of police in Norris, TN, in Anderson County, he has 18 years law enforcement experience. He served as the police chief for Baneberry, TN, in Jefferson County from 2015 to 2017. He has a master’s degree in criminal justice from Bethel University and a bachelor’s in education from the University of Tennessee. 

•Chris Kendrick — interim police chief for the Crossville department. Kendrick leads the department’s K-9 unit and has 19 years of law enforcement experience, all with Crossville. He has completed numerous education and training programs related to law enforcement, including the Southern Police Institute Chief Executive Leadership program in 2017. 

•Thomas Lay — formerly a trooper with the Tennessee Highway Patrol from 2011 to 2016 and a deputy United States Marshal from 2010 to 2011. He served as sheriff of Scott County, TN, from 2006 to 2010 following positions with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, 17th Judicial Violent Crime Task Force and Scott County Sheriff’s Department, where he entered law enforcement in 1995. He is currently owner of the RT Good Times Sports Grill in Rocky Top, TN. 

•Craig Moates — chief of police in McKenzie, TN, in West Tennessee, since 2013. The department employs 17 sworn officers with five full-time and four part-time employees in the communications division. He has previously served as chief of police in Kotzebue, AK, and Nome, AK. He has also worked as a private consultant in areas of management, strategic planning, community policing and homeland security. 

•James A. Phelps — chief of police, Bourbonnais, IL, since 2012. He has 29 years of experience in law enforcement and currently manages a staff of 26 sworn officers, seven non-sworn support staff and seven telecommunications staff. He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Olivet Nazarene University. 

•Gegory B. Purden — currently serving as commander of operational services for the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, where he has worked since 1988 in numerous capacities. He earned a bachelor’s from Columbia College of Missouri with major coursework in criminal justice. His management experience includes supervision of 103 employees and an annual budget of $9 million. 

•Mark Rosser — currently captain with the Fairfield Glade Police Department, Rosser has served with the Crossville Police Department from 1988 to January 2017, when he left after having served about six months as interim chief for the department. He has completed numerous law enforcement and leadership courses and he previously served in both the United States Marine Corps and Tennessee National Guard.

•Rodney Mark Shoap — currently dispatch director for Cumberland County E-911 communications department, Shoap previously served as chief of the Crossville Police Department. He has a master’s in public administration, bachelor’s in management and associate degree in criminal justice. He has 26 years of law enforcement experience, starting as a patrol officer with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office in Fort Myers, FL. He was promoted over the years to the rank of major prior to bing elected sheriff. He also worked as a corrections officer with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department and served as a magistrate in Maury County. 

•Mark Steinmann — He has more than 24 years of law enforcement experience, working with the Crossville Police Department, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, Harriman Police Department, Roane County Sheriff’s Office. His most recent law enforcement work was with the Crossville Department, working from July 2015 to October 2016. 

•Brian Tilley — lieutenant with the Crossville Police Department, serving as the field training supervisor, video evidence custodian and Tennessee Highway Safety Office coordinator. Tilley served in the United States Army for five years and attended Basic Police Recruit School at Walter State Community College. He began working with the Crossville Police Department in 1996.

•Jonathan Heath Willis — Tennessee Bomb and Arson special agent since 2014. He previously served as chief of detectives for the Athens, TN, police department from 2006 to 2014 and commander and counterintelligence agent for the U.S. Army from 1992 to 2006. He earned a master’s and bachelor’s in criminal justice/law enforcement administration from Bethel University, an associate’s in emergency management administration and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s criminal justice leadership academy. 

•Daniel R. Wright — currently interim police chief for Roane State Community College and an adjunct instructor of police administration. He was the police chief for Rockwood, TN, and served as a special agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, as an investigator and trooper with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, and as an officer with the Oak Ridge Police Department. He has a master’s in criminal justice from the University of North Georgia.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.

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