AURORA | Police Chief Dan Oates won’t be taking a job with a much larger California department, he said last week.
In a department-wide email sent last week, Oates said he interviewed for the police chief job in San Jose, Calif., but would not be taking a job there.
“It is true that I interviewed for the job yesterday. However, I will not be going to San Jose. I will remain here as chief and look forward to continuing to work with all of you,” Oates said in a Jan. 10 email.
A Bay Area television station, KTVU, reported last week that Oates was one of three finalists to replace outgoing chief there Chris Moore, who announced his retirement last fall and is set to leave the department Jan. 18.
The three finalists — Oates, former Santa Clara (California) Police Chief Kevin Kyle and Dallas assistant Chief Tom Lawrence — interviewed with city leaders at a conference center over the course of a full day last week, the station reported. The station cited an unnamed source that said who the three candidates were and said the leaders who interviewed them signed nondisclosure agreements.
In his email to the department, Oates said he wanted to quash speculation about the San Jose job.
“This message is sent to dispel any rumors out there,” he wrote.
Oates came to APD in 2005 after a four-year stint as the head of public safety in Ann Arbor, Mich. Before that, the New Jersey native he spent 21 years with the New York Police Department, retiring in 2001.
I think Aurora should go on an Oates free diet soon!!