The hunt for a new WKU Police chief has been whittled from more than 42 applications to four finalists including two captains from the Bowling Green police department according to sources close to the search. Finalists for the position are Bowling Green police Capt. Mari Harris and Capt. Jerry Wells, Robert Dean, who is director of university police and safety at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and Scott Shelton, who is assistant director of public safety at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Interviews will begin Oct. 18 and are expected to be finished by the first week of November, with a new chief being namedat the end of this semester or the beginning of the spring term, according to Sam Evans, associate dean of the College of Education and head of the nine-member search committee. The chief “will have to be someone who is very knowledgeable of policing with a strong background in the field of law enforcement, strong interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate with a diverse community being that, as a university, we are a diverse community,” Evans said. Both Harris and Wellsalready have experienced Western’s community as both began their careers on the university’s police force.”This is my home town,” said Harris, a 19-year police veteran. “I believe I have experience in education (and can be) a good team player for the university.”Wells, a 23-year police veteran, confirmed he was a candidate for the Western position, but declined to comment on the search. Shelton, a captain and 23-year veteran of Missouri’s police department, also declined to comment other than to say he had been in contact with representatives from Western and would be happy to talk to the press next week. An official announcement naming the candidates is expected Tuesday, Evans said. Dean has been the director of university police and public safety at the University of WisconsinParkside for more than five years and served on the Detroit Police Department for 30 years.”I am looking for an opportunity to challenge my skills and my administration ability a bit more,” he said Friday. The WKU Police chief position has been filled temporarily by Capt. Jerry Phelps after Horace Johnson left in March after 20 years on The Hill to take a job with the state Department of Criminal Justice Training in Richmond. The chief will have to contend with the possibility that the department could drop from 23 to 20 officers six short of where an independent review said the department needed to be by May because of a lack of funds, according to Jerry Wilder, student affairs vice president at Western. WKU Police has an operating budget of $34,000, not including salaries the smallest of any of its benchmark institutions. The next smallest budget is more than two times more than Western’s and the highest is nine times more, Wilder said.