Crescent City officials announced today the hiring of Richard Griffin as its next Chief of Police.Griffin steps up from within the ranks of the Crescent City Police Department to permanently replace Chief Ivan Minsal who retired Sept. 8.Since Minsal's retirement, splitting the duty as interim police chief were Sgt. Ed Wilson in September and Sgt. Jennifer Owens in October.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');City Manager Eric Wier said Griffin was chosen in a very competitive process.“We’re very pleased and excited to hire Richard Griffin. He was born and raised in Medford, Ore., he’s been a local here as a sergeant in the Sheriff’s Department for 15 years, and recently moved over to the city’s police department in January,” Wier told The Triplicate. “His law enforcement career has been very decorated with several officer of the year awards. Griffin is very respected in the law enforcement community. He’s very passionate and his sense of sincerity fit in spades.”Wier said Griffin was chosen from an initial field of 37 applicants that was narrowed down to six last week. The finalists included two from out of state, one from Southern California and the others internally.Wier said two panels interviewed each of the finalists for 45 minutes. The community panel was comprised of residents, business leaders, school district officials and other governmental agencies including from the Elk Valley Rancheria. The second panel had law enforcement representatives from California Highway Patrol, the Del Norte County District Attorney, Pelican Bay State Prison and Crescent Fire Protection District.Wier took their recommendations, gave the final interviews and selected Griffin. He will present Griffin’s contract for approval to the City Council Oct. 21.“If the council gives their approval Oct. 21, hopefully, given is current status with the city having already run through background checks, Griffin can start Oct. 22 as chief of police,” Wier said.Wier added Griffin has a wife and two children, born and raised this community, which weighed heavily in his favor.“His passion and drive is to make this a better place for his family and for all our families,” Wier said. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });