North Seattle residents get their last chance to weigh in on the city's next police chief Wednesday, Sept. 30. Mayor Katie Wilson's final public listening session runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at North Seattle College's World Community Center.

The forum is the last of three sessions organized in partnership with Seattle Neighborhood Group, a nonprofit that will compile community input and report findings to the mayor's search advisory committee.

About 75 people attended the first session Saturday, Sept. 26, at Van Asselt Community Center in South Seattle, The Seattle Times reported. A second session was held Monday, Sept. 28, at Seattle University. No attendance figures for that event have been released.

The search follows a turbulent stretch for the Seattle Police Department (SPD). Mayor Wilson accepted former Chief Shon Barnes' resignation on July 30 and appointed Deputy Chief Andre Sayles as interim chief.

Barnes' departure came days after a mass shooting at the Bite of Seattle festival near the Space Needle that killed three people, including a suspected gunman, and wounded at least four others. Wilson has not publicly identified a single reason for seeking Barnes' resignation. Her attorney has said Barnes did not align with the administration's values and vision for the department, according to KING 5.

As of the Sept. 26 session, the city had received about 24 qualified applications. Roughly 10 of those applicants work or have previously worked at SPD, according to KIRO 7.

Alison Holcomb, Wilson's director of public safety, told the South Seattle crowd that a new chief could be hired by the end of the year, with January as the outer target. Attendees wrote qualities they want in the next chief on oversized notepads: "boots on the ground," "community-based," "de-escalation practice" and "accessible to the community."

"People have been through a lot of police chiefs in this city, and we've been through a federal consent decree," Holcomb said at the Sept. 26 session, as reported by KIRO 7.

The search advisory committee is co-chaired by retired Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu and Ian Warner, public policy director at Vulcan Real Estate. Warner previously served as legal counsel to the Seattle Mayor's Office and on the monitoring team that oversaw SPD's federal consent decree compliance.

District 7 Councilmember Bob Kettle, who represents Queen Anne, Magnolia and Belltown and chairs the council's Public Safety Committee, sits on the advisory committee. When Wilson launched the search on Aug. 25, Kettle called the hire critically important and pointed to ongoing challenges with youth gun violence and public disorder.

The committee plans to advance five or six finalists to a competitive exam required by the city charter, then recommend three finalists to Wilson. The City Council must confirm the mayor's pick.

Wilson's three forums are fewer than past searches. Mayor Jenny Durkan held 10 workshops in 2018. Mayor Bruce Harrell hosted five conversations in 2022, KIRO 7 reported. The position carries a salary range of $234,294 to $374,900, according to Capitol Hill Seattle Blog.

Residents who cannot attend Wednesday's session can find more information at seattle.gov/mayor/vision-and-values/chief-search.