Tuesday’s announcement of five finalists for the University Police chief position narrows a search almost 10 months in the making.

The candidates, who have held jobs from Iowa to Bosnia, will visit campus in May to interview for the job. After two-day meetings with each man, NIU’s police chief search committee will pick a successor to John Pickens, who left last June.

Since that time, UP Lt. John Hunter has served as interim police chief. Hunter, however, didn’t apply for the position, said Admasu Zike, chairman of the 14-member committee.

“There are excellent candidates — the campus will be very happy, and the police department will be very happy,” Zike said. “Some have international experience. Others have their masters all the way up to their Ph.D.s.”

The candidates include:

Stephen A. Briscoe, director of public safety, security and parking at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.

Albert D. Chesser Jr., police chief at Governors State University in University Park, Ill.

Donald Grady II, who just returned from Kosovo, where he was a deputy police commissioner for the United Nations.

David B. Hollenbeck, director for facilities, policy development and management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Donald M. Thomas, who most recently was chief of the human rights office of the United Nations police task force in Bosnia.

Zike, who also serves as assistant provost for academic support, said the search has been widespread. Fliers were sent to 48 universities in the Midwest, as well as local police agencies. Ads also were placed in local newspapers and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

“Unlike the last search, we increased the requirements,” Zike said. “Instead of five years of supervisory experience, we required eight. We also mentioned that we preferred specialized training in law enforcement in organizations like the FBI national academy or traffic institutes. The numbers came less, but the quality kind of went up. We have candidates who established police forces in other countries.”

The job description includes overseeing everything having to do with the NIU Office of Public Safety and University Police, including budgets and management.

Once interviews are complete, the committee will submit three names to executive vice president Eddie Williams, and a final decision will be made.

“We’ll get input from everybody,” Zike said.