Mayor Emily Larson had the difficult job of choosing the next City of Duluth Police Chief.  Difficult because there was two very viable candidates, Brian Kozak and Mike Tusken.  She involved community members and used a Community Review Panel to narrow it to two.  Now, congratulation are in order. 

According to a City of Duluth press release, the two candidates were,

Mike Tusken who was currently serving as the interim Duluth Police Chief. He was raised in the Morgan Park neighborhood of Duluth and has over 23 years of service to the Duluth department, serving previously as Sergeant and Lieutenant. Tusken was appointed Deputy Police Chief in 2006, by Chief Gordon Ramsay.

Brian Kozak, is a Duluth native with over 30 years of experience and currently serves as the Police Chief of the Cheyenne, Wyoming Police Department. Prior to Cheyenne, he served for four years as the Chief of Police in Avon, Colorado. He also has 22 years of prior law enforcement experience in Arizona.

Mayor Emily Larson has appointing Mike Tusken to be Duluth’s next Police Chief. In her announcement, Mayor Larson stated “Mike truly exemplifies passionate public service, dedication to the shield and deep commitment to ensuring the safety of all neighbors and all neighborhoods. In addition, his sound judgement, grounded enthusiasm and proactive energy will be of considerable benefit to the cross-departmental thinking I ask all our Directors to bring to their role.”

Mike Tusken accepted the job opportunity saying he loved the Duluth Police Department and the City of Duluth.  The only thing that is left to do is present Mayor Larson's decision to the Duluth City Council for approval.  That should happen at their next meeting on May 9.  Now Mayor Larson will turn her sites to making a final decision on the Fire Chief appointment.

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