The purpose of the OACP Linebacker Interim Leadership Assistance program is to provide interim Police Department leadership to cities during periods when a vacancy has occurred in the office of the Chief of Police.
Such vacancies may be the result of a number of factors such as the transition between a former chief and a new chief or an extended absence of the chief. The program provides an opportunity for a city to benefit from the leadership of an experienced law enforcement executive professional during such periods.
When a police chief vacancy occurs, cities are faced with the challenge of keeping the police department moving forward. The goal of the Linebacker program is to link cities and police departments that require short term leadership and management of the police department with a qualified retired Police Chief, or currently employed mid-level police commander/executive, with proven leadership ability.
The Oregon Association Chiefs of Police (OACP) has established and maintains a list of qualified candidates who are willing and able to serve as an interim Chief of Police. A city may request assistance from the OACP to provide a list of potential candidates for consideration. The request must be initiated by the City Manager, City Administrator or other designated qualified city official. On receipt of such a request, the OACP Executive Resources Committee chair shall contact registered Linebacker members and ascertain who is available to serve the requesting city. The OACP Executive Director will then provide the city’s designated authorized representative with a portfolio of potential candidates. The responsibility and the involvement of OACP and the Executive Resources Committee of OACP shall end once the list of potential candidates has been provided to the requesting city. OACP and its Executive Resource Committee members provide this service for the benefit of the requesting cities without compensation and without representation of qualification of or results to be attained through any potential candidate. A requesting city must acknowledge that OACP is a referral source only and OACP, its members, officers and representatives assume no liability or obligation other that to identify potential candidates in the process described herein.
It shall be the sole responsibility of the requesting city to interview and select the individual who will serve as the interim Chief of Police. OACP will play no role in any negotiation or in reaching the terms of a services/employment agreement between the City and the preferred candidate. However, OACP has received a form of interim chief employment agreement through the courtesy of its Legal Counsel and Executive Resources Committee member, and his service may be engaged by a city, to represent the city as his client for this purpose, to assist in tailoring that form of agreement to the particular circumstances and terms agreed upon by a city and potential interim chief.