As Winnipeg starts the search for a successor to police Chief Jack Ewatski, the people in charge say they would ideally like someone who knows Winnipeg well — but won't rule out an outsider.

'I liked some of the qualities that Chief Jack Ewatski brought to the table: somebody that started off and worked their way through the ranks here.…'-Mayor Sam Katz

Ewatski announced Wednesday that he would retire on June 29. He has been in the police force for 34 years and been its chief for nine.

Ewatski said the timing of his retirement was meant to coincide with his 55th birthday in March and his 34th year of service in September.

Mayor Sam Katz spoke of Ewatski's tenure in glowing terms Wednesday, saying he would use Ewatski as an example in the city's search for a new chief.

"I liked some of the qualities that Chief Jack Ewatski brought to the table: somebody that started off and worked their way through the ranks here, I thought was wonderful," Katz said.

"I mean, [he] walked the beat, drove a patrol car … knew the city, loved the city, cared about it, understood some of the problems and wanted to make this a very safe city."

However, Katz said he would not rule out hiring a police chief from outside Winnipeg.

Familiarity with aboriginal issues an asset

St. Vital Coun. Gord Steeves, who chairs the city's protection standing committee, said Thursday that Ewatski's successor should be able to take the city toward a more transparent, technical and accountable way of addressing crime.

"Obviously, we are looking always at the aboriginal issue in the city of Winnipeg; it's a continuing challenge. If somebody had some expertise in that area, then that would be important as well," Steeves said.

He added that Ewatski's successor should also be familiar with CompStat, a computer program that uses statistical data to track crime trends and patterns across a city. It has been used in several U.S. cities, including New York.

In 2006, Katz renamed the program CrimeStat for implementation in Winnipeg. He said in November that he hoped to have it up and running in the summer of 2007.

Where are the managers? councillor asks

Ewatski is the second city manager to announce his departure in recent months. In December, Winnipeg fire and paramedic Chief Wes Shoemaker left after eight years on the job to take up a post with British Columbia's government.

Fort Rouge Coun. Jenny Gerbasi said she is concerned about the latest additions to a growing list of vacancies at the senior management level, including the chief financial officer.

"Almost our whole senior management team is gone right now. We don't have anyone in community services. We don't have a CFO. We don't have a fire chief in place," Gerbasi said.

"We are really missing a lot of our key senior management people, so I think that that's something to be a bit concerned about, just that so many are going at the same time."

City officials have said serious recruitment efforts for some of those positions, including fire chief, would start in the new year.