This article was originally published in The Examiner on Sept. 13, 2016.
By Eleanor Skelton
Staff Writer
Wednesday, Sept. 14, Port Arthur city officials will be hosting a meet-and-greet with four police chief finalist candidates.
This is the first time the city has held an event like this, according to city manager Brian McDougal.
Forty-six applicants originally applied for the position.
The four final candidates are Arthur L. Barclay, Jeff Fant, Jesus Campa and Patrick Melvin.
According to McDougal, Barclay is serving as the deputy chief of investigative and support command for the City of Fort Worth. Fant is the assistant chief of Police Support Service Bureau in San Angelo. Campa and Melvin have experience as police chiefs for the cities of Marshall, Texas and Scottsdale, Arizona.
Barclay was recently promoted from captain to deputy chief in January 2015, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Fant retired from the San Angelo Police Department in late July 2016 after more than 20 years on the force, according to San Angelo Live.
Campa resigned from the El Paso Police Department in 2014 before transferring to Marshall, Texas, according to the Odessa American.
Melvin was placed on administrative leave and resigned two weeks later in May 2016 after five years of service with the Salt River Police Department, according to The Copa Monitor. A spokesperson for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community declined to comment on the matter, according to ABC15.
McDougal says that he “wants the community to come out and give feedback” since they “have never done this before.”
McDougal said that the City Council, “I hope,” will be voting on selecting the next police chief from the final four “in the next week.”
The event will be at the Department Club, located at 1924 Lakeshore Drive in Port Arthur.
Eleanor Skelton 