Police Coffee

Public Forum withe the Franklin Police Chief Candidates is on Tuesday, June 21, 9:30 am in Police Community Room.

City Administrator Eric Stuckey announced Tuesday the interviews for the Franklin Police Chief candidates will take place Monday, June 20, with a public forum set for Tuesday at 9:30 in the Police Department Community Room. The forum will begin with an informal meet and greet with the candidates, followed by a question and answer session moderated by Executive Director of Franklin Tomorrow, Mindy Tate.

The four contenders are Joseph Bishop, Police Chief of the Columbia Police Department; David Mitchell, Former Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety and State Homeland Security Director; Anthony Pustizzi, Deputy Police Chief in Coral Springs, Florida; and Interim Chief of Police for the City of Franklin, David Rahinsky.

“This public forum will give the media and the community a chance to get to know the candidates a little better,” said Stuckey. “On Monday the four candidates will go through a series of interviews, a tour of the community and the new Police Headquarters. After this interview process we hope to move forward with filling this position as quickly as possible.”

Below we have included some background information on each candidate. Each candidate has extensive experience and affiliations beyond what we have printed below:

Bishop has a Master’s Degree in Public Service Management (magna cum laude) from Cumberland University. He has a B.S. Degree in Criminal Justice from Tennessee State University. He’s been with the Columbia Police Department since November 2008 and currently serves as Chief of Police. Prior to his service in Columbia, Bishop worked his way through the ranks at the Nashville Metro Police Department for 28 years, ending his career there as Deputy Chief of Police-Field Operations Unit.

Mitchell has a B.S. Degree in Political Science from Middle Tennessee State University; he also completed post graduate courses toward a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice from MTSU. He was selected by the FBI to attend Kellogg School of Management and Leadership intensive course at Northwestern University. He served the State of Tennessee as the Commissioner of Safety and Director of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2010 and worked 26 years for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Pustizzi has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Florida Atlantic University with a B.S. in Criminology from the University of Florida. He worked his way through the ranks of the Coral Springs, Florida Police Department for 23 years, currently serving as Deputy Police Chief. He’s also worked as an Adjunct Professor in Criminal Justice at ITT Technical Institute in Fort Lauderdale and currently serves as the State Board Vice President of the FBI National Academy.

Rahinsky has a B.S. in History from Florida Atlantic University (summa cum laude) and a Masters Degree in Criminology from Florida State University to be awarded August 6, 2011. David currently serves as Interim Chief of Police for the City of Franklin and came to the department in 2006 as Deputy Chief for the Criminal Investigations Division, he’s also served as Deputy Chief over Operations and Assistant Police Chief. Prior to his service with Franklin, Rahinsky worked for the Broward Sheriff’s Office in Ft. Lauderdale for 17 years ultimately serving as Chief for the City of Oakland Park and he began his career in 1987 in Philadelphia.