FERRIDAY, La. — A committee of Ferriday public officials and citizens will begin interviewing candidates for police chief next week, Mayor-Elect Glen McGlothin said Thursday.

&uot;I want for us to have a candidate named by the first week of June,&uot;&160;said McGlothin, who will take office July 1. The Ferriday Town Council would have to approve the appointment, he added.

The specific days interviews will be conducted will depend on when the seven candidates for the position will be available, he said.

Those who applied for the position, said McGlothin, include the following:

Current Police Chief Eddie Newman;

Ferriday police officers Terrence Williams and Frank Henderson;

Investigator Bobby Sheppard of the Vidalia Police Department;

Bill James, head of security at Titan Tire of Natchez;

Former Newellton Police Chief Ricky Williams;

Former Ferriday Assistant Police Chief Raymond Murray, now a deputy with the Pike County Sheriff’s Department.

&uot;All the candidates are good ones, people with lots of experience,&uot; said McGlothin. &uot;The least experienced one among them had 10 or 11 years of experience.&uot;

The committee will take several criteria into account when interviewing the applicants, including law enforcement and supervisory experience, educational level and what McGlothin called &uot;public demeanor.&uot;

&uot;In other words, the person would have to have good skills in dealing with the public,&uot;&160;McGlothin said. &uot;He would have to be firm but fair.&uot;

Members of the police chief selection committee include McGlothin, Ferriday council members Dorothy Johnson and Billy Rucker, Deputy Uzella Frazier, Kenneth Hedrick and Judge Richard Watson.