Port of Seattle Interim CEO Dave Soike has hired Rod Covey as the new chief of police for the Port of Seattle. Covey has been the interim chief since the retirement of Chief Colleen Wilson in November and will take over duties immediately.
The Port of Seattle Police Department consists of 102 commissioned police officers and 41 non-commissioned personnel providing the primary law enforcement service to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the Port’s maritime properties including two cruise ship terminals, one grain terminal, a public cargo terminal, four public marinas and multiple real estate assets.
“We held an extensive competition for the Police Chief position with an impressive list of candidates,” said Port of Seattle Interim CEO Soike. “We are pleased to select someone with the depth of experience around the country and within our own department that Chief Covey has amassed. I am confident he will continue the vision to be the nation’s finest port police.”
Chief Covey had served as Deputy Chief at the Port of Seattle Police Department since November 2009, managing the Operations and Services bureaus, patrol divisions at the airport and seaport, the Criminal Investigations Division, the Professional Standards and Training Division and the 911 Communications Center as well as the PD’s specialty units including Explosive Detection K9s, Bomb Disposal, Marine Patrol, Dive Team, Bike Team, Gang Unit, as well as the department’s members of the Valley SWAT(Special Weapons and Tactics), Crisis Negotiations and Valley Civil Disturbance Units.
Previously Covey served 32 years with the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZ DPS) where he was the Assistant Director at the AZ DPS for Operations, Patrol, and Agency support. In that role he oversaw a wide variety of functions that included training, research and planning, community education, crime victims unit, internal affairs, and others. Covey holds a Bachelor degree in Management and a Masters in Educational Leadership.
An outside firm experienced in placing police leaders was used to conduct the candidate search and interviewing efforts. Notifications went to cities across the country with populations of 100,000 or more, and advertisements went into 8 different police and various diverse resource group association systems. Thirty-two candidates applied, preliminary interviews were held, shortlisting occurred, and final interviews were held by a broad set of panelists that included in-house leaders and external police and labor partners.
