FAIRHOPE, Ala. — When Bill Press takes the oath of office this morning, he will be the first police chief selected by the City Council through a national search and round of public interviews.

It was only 11 days ago that Chief of Police Press, a 35-year veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department who took early retirement in March, interviewed for the job with five other finalists.

“If selected, I’ll be here tomorrow,” Press said that day, responding to Councilman Lonnie Mixon’s question of when he could start. “There’s a need to address things as quickly as possible.”

Press was appointed by the council at its June 22 meeting at an annual salary of $95,000.

Until his retirement, he had been a captain, since 2003, with “administrative, budgetary, and supervisory responsibility for the overall operation” of the Crime Scene Investigations Bureau of that police department, according to his resume.

“I have been an executive officer (highest civil service classification of police captain) at the Miami-Dade Police Department’s CSI Bureau, and Northside, Cutler Ridge and Hammocks District Stations since March 16, 1998,” he wrote in his Feb. 16 cover letter with his police chief application. “My responsibilities have and continue to include the command, control and direction of the Bureau and Stations’ resources. Currently, at second-in-command, I oversee an operating budget of $12,083,172 and 45 sworn and 50 non-sworn employees.”

Press fielded several questions during his June 20 interview about the difference between his work and that of the CSI-Miami television shows.

After noting he had appeared on an episode during the 5th season of the show and also on Miami Vice years earlier, he said frankly, “It’s had a drastic negative effect.” He explained that some juries now expect DNA evidence in every case, and that the TV show has exaggerated some techniques of police investigations.

Press had done his own investigative homework for the interviews that were open to the public but attended by only a handful of people.

He spoke in depth about the department’s plans, which had not been widely publicized, to soon have a new computer system purchased with approximately $100,000 in funds derived from a drug bust last summer.

“I want to see it used by police officers and not only by dispatchers,” he said during his interview. “I want it to be used not only for doing reports but also running tags.”

Currently, the department does not have a computerized system for logging calls and writing and generating reports. At a recent city personnel board meeting, not having such a CAD system was cited as a major shortcoming of the department.

The selection process for a new police chief started when the new council in November decided not to reappoint Mike Comalander, who denied reports at the time that he abused prescription pain medicine.

Comalander stepped down to captain and now serves as one of the two second-in-command officers in the department, overseeing the administrative division, which includes the jail and investigations section, according to a May organizational chart.

Councilman Dan Stankoski led the search effort, which included appointing a search committee, developing a job description, and narrowing the list of 116 applicants to six finalists.

The selection process saw several controversies erupt after an interim chief was appointed in January pending a permanent hire.

Mayor Tim Kant objected at one point to how the selection committee, of which he was a member, arrived at a short list of 25 candidates, from which a list of 10 would be selected for phone interviews.

But the biggest controversy emerged over the sudden appearance of a “grass-roots” campaign for Capt. Steve Griffis, a 25-year veteran of the department and the other second-in-command at the department. His campaign for chief, at which he never appeared or spoke publicly about, was supported by Mayor Tim Kant and Councilman Mike Ford.

That candidacy took an unexpected turn when it was learned that Griffis had been under an internal investigation and was placed on administrative leave with pay by Interim Chief Terry Sanders pending a pre-disciplinary review hearing.

Efforts to reach Griffis have been unsuccessful.

That plot thickened when Kant ordered Griffis returned to work over Sander’s orders.

The hearing in Griffis’ case is tomorrow, which could result in disciplinary action or dismissal, according to some sources. City officials have not commented on the nature of the charges, citing the confidentiality of an ongoing personnel action.

So, Press comes into a department at a momentous time in its history in an agency where some staff sided with a different candidate, who might be gone by tomorrow, or could remain second-in-command after the dust settles from his disciplinary hearing.

During his June 20 interview by the council, Press was asked what he thought was the most important function of a police chief.

“I think the most important function is to lead the police department by setting the vision for the department and managing strategic planning to be in concert with the city’s goals,” he said, adding that had to be done with “integrity and honesty.”