SUMMERDALE, Ala. - The Summerdale Town Council has completed four interviews for the vacant police chief position, with one of the candidates being current Summerdale police officer T.J. Palkovic.

The council also interviewed Stanley DeVane, Thomas Harrington and Frankie Ingram for the job. DeVane and Harrington were interviewed May 12, and Ingram was interviewed May 17. Palkovic was interviewed Tuesday.

DeVane currently works for the Alabama Parole and Probation Office and has since 2004. He also worked a number of positions in the Dothan Police Department from 1978 to 2003.

Harrington has worked for the University of New Orleans as the assistant vice chancellor and police chief since 2006. He worked for the New Orleans Police Department from 1981 to 2006.

Ingram works as a special agent in the 35th Judicial Drug Task Force in Monroeville. He has worked as chief of county sheriff's offices in Georgia and Alabama.

Palkovic — the officer with the most seniority in the Summerdale Police Department — has policed the town since 2007.

"I was actually confronted by several members of the community requesting me to put in the application," Palkovic said, noting some residents gave their blessing by calling Summerdale Mayor David Wilson to support Palkovic becoming the new chief. "I have gotten to know the town and it's problems, and that is one of the things working in my favor. They trust me."

Palkovic attended the last two regular council meetings to give department head reports concerning police activity in the town. This duty usually is handled by the police chief, Mayor David Wilson said; but the town has been without a chief since March 17, the date the council unanimously voted to terminate Dwain Riebeling's employment with the town.

The council held a hearing and vote at the town's Municipal Complex regarding Wilson's request for the termination of Riebeling's employment as town police chief. The reasons for termination include: incompetence and inefficiency; inattention to duty; neglect of duty regarding a Nov. 9, 2010 incident; and insubordination.

Wilson said the applicants interviewed by the council have been quality candidates, but there is still work left to do in the process.

"It's definitely going to take more than one interview per candidate," Wilson said. "The first one is kind of a pre-screening for the candidate, and then you move on to the next step."

Wilson said the council will meet to choose which candidates make it to the follow-up interviews after all first interviews have been conducted. No other applicants are scheduled for an interview as of Monday afternoon, but Wilson said the council could decide to interview more if it so chooses.

Summerdale does not have an interim police chief, but Lt. Tony Nolfe of the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office is helping oversee the town's police department.

Wilson approached the sheriff's office in February about issues with the police department, and there was mention of disbanding the department and leaving the area to the supervision of sheriff's office deputies.