2 finalists selected in search for new Heber City chief of police

Photo: Heber City Police

HEBER CITY, Utah — Heber City’s current chief of police, Dave Booth, will retire on October 1 following decades of police service.

According to Sgt. Joshua Weishar, public information officer for the Heber City Police Department, 40 candidates initially applied for the chief of police position. Now, that pool has now been narrowed down to just two, Branden Russell and Parker Sever.

Russell is an internal candidate for the chief of police position, and currently serves as a Heber City police officer. Sever currently serves as the chief of the Hanford Police Department, located in California’s south-central San Joaquin Valley.

Heber residents are invited to a ‘Community Meet & Greet’ to learn more about Russell and Sever on August 22 from 7-9 p.m. at Heber Valley Elementary School.

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear a 10-minute presentation from each candidate, which will be followed by a 45-minute Q&A with questions from the public.

“Come and ask questions and talk to them, and then give feedback at the end so the mayor can have a public opinion of what the community thinks of these two candidates,” Weishar said.

Chief of police is an appointed position. The final candidate will be chosen by Heber City Mayor Heidi Franco, then approved or denied by the Heber City Council.

“It’s basically an application process through the mayor of the municipality or the city,” Weishar said. “That mayor will select the candidate and present it to the city council, and then the city council will either accept or reject it.”