Stonington — The committee overseeing the selection of a new police chief here will interview three outside applicants as well as current Stonington police Lt. Bryan Schneider on Feb. 26.

Those interviews will take place in executive session and the three other candidates will not be identified.

At Thursday afternoon's Board of Police Commissioners meeting, Chairman Robert O'Shaughnessy said the selection committee reviewed the applications it received from nine outside candidates before choosing the three it will interview along with Schneider.

After those interviews, the committee will select which candidates will move on to being interviewed by a committee of current Connecticut police chiefs at the beginning of May. O'Shaughnessy said he expects to publicly identify the candidates that are moving on to that stage. That panel then will recommend one or more candidates to the board, which then will decide whom to hire.

The board on Thursday also received three more letters supporting Schneider.

One came from the Stonington Fire Officers Association, which is composed of the town's six fire chiefs. They wrote to express their confidence in Schneider's ability to lead the men and women of the Stonington Police Department.

"During his 21 years of service with your department all of us have had the privilege to work with him both on and off the emergency scene, and have found him to be proficient, honest and of sound integrity and character needed to lead the department into the future," the fire chiefs wrote.

Another letter came from longtime Old Mystic fire Chief Ken Richards Jr., who wrote that he understands the board has to seek out the most qualified candidate for the job. He wrote that Schneider is "highly respected and trusted by his peers," evidenced by the letters of support from all employees of the police department, the fire chiefs and the Westerly police union.

"I can personally tell you that my interactions with Lt. Schneider have been nothing short of professional, honest and attentive. Furthermore he has always exemplified character and integrity, and has been a force in much of the forward movement I have seen in the Stonington PD," Richards wrote. "Respectfully I ask you to take a hard look at the short and long term impact on the morale of the department that could be gained or lost by hiring from the outside to fill the position of Chief of Police."

The board also received a letter from Westerly police Capt. Steve Johnson, a Pawcatuck resident. He, too, endorsed Schneider, saying that during his many interactions with Schneider at incidents both routine and serious, he witnessed a "knowledgable, level headed, calm leader." 

Johnson cautioned the board that when a department has a qualified inside candidate but goes outside to hire a new chief, "it inflicts irreparable damage that takes many years to repair." He wrote that morale suffers and officers' quality of work diminishes greatly. Officers looking to build their careers and move up in rank become discouraged, and in some cases leave for other departments. He wrote that he has witnessed this firsthand on two occasions in Westerly.

After interviewing Schneider in December, the board announced it would consider applications from outside candidates on a limited time basis, as well. It said the decision was "in no way a rejection of our internal candidate" but so the board could do "due diligence in this selection."

That decision angered members of the police department. All 53 officers and civilian employees of the department, with the exception of retiring Chief J. Darren Stewart and Capt. Todd Olson, sent a letter to the board in January, saying they were shocked at the decision to seek candidates from outside the department instead of hiring Schneider.

After Stewart informed the board last fall that he planned to retire later this year, the board decided to first consider applications for the job from current department members who hold the rank of lieutenant or above. That meant in addition to Schneider, Lt. Michael Peckham and Olson also were eligible to apply for the job. However, Olson and Peckham decided not to apply.

j.wojtas@theday.com