Lansford Borough Council may be closer to interviewing police chief candidates thanks to a state agency.

Council President Bruce Markovich said Tuesday that the state Department of Community and Economic Development will provide three police chiefs to interview candidates at no cost.

The borough has been struggling to find a panel of qualified police chiefs to conduct interviews and rank the candidates. Many of the chiefs locally are familiar with or know the potential candidates, Markovich has said.

Lansford has been without a police chief since Kyle Woodward left at the end of March, and council hoped to hire a new chief this year.

Councilman George Gilbert asked what the time frame would be on using this service through DCED.

Markovich explained that council would need to approve this at its regular meeting next week and it could be four to six weeks before interviews are completed.

The panel will conduct the interview, rank them and hold those rankings, and then council could conduct its own interviews and rank the candidates, he said.

Afterward, council would compare the rankings and discuss who they wanted to hire as their next police chief, Markovich said.

Gilbert asked if council could streamline that process and do its own interviews during those four to six weeks as they wait for the panel of chiefs to conduct interviews.

Council could set a date at the next meeting to conduct interviews and reach out to the candidates, Markovich said.

All of council could be present for the interviews, which would be done in an executive session, he said. Executive sessions, which are not open to the public, are allowed to discuss personnel matters, such as hiring.

Councilwoman Gwyneth Collevechio said that council members who want to be part of the interview process need to be prepared with intelligent questions to ask these candidates.

The Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association conducted the last police chief search for the borough, in which applicants sought and a panel of chiefs conducted interviews and ranked candidates.

Council also conducted its own interviews and then decided on a potential chief based on the rankings and interviews. The process took several months and cost the borough $5,000.

Council decided to do its own search for the next chief, and only used the association’s website to advertise for candidates.

Council has six candidates for the next police chief.