Superior Swears In New Police Chief

Superior has sworn in a new police chief who says he’ll make increased diversity on the force and community meetings among his top priorities.

Nicholas Alexander said he hopes community meetings will restore trust after an incident last year in which a white police officer got in a physical altercation with a black city resident.

“We do have a program in place already, ‘Coffee with a Cop,’ which has received a very good reception,” said Alexander. “We do host, occasionally, some community meetings, but I would like to see more neighborhood-style meetings and town hall meetings.”

Alexander said he’d like to hold at least monthly meetings with the community.

He also said he plans to review the department’s recruitment process and develop a more diverse workforce. All 57 officers on the Superior Police Department are currently white. Alexander said there’s a value to “having members on your department that diverse groups can look at and relate to, and how that can open up communication.”

He hopes diversity will build trust between officers and the community.

Duluth NAACP President Claudie Washington said he’s optimistic, but would like community input on hiring.

“Having community input in the interview process and therefore making recommendation to the chief as to who gets hired, I think that’s a very valuable input,” he said.

Alexander said he would like to expand searches for qualified applicants to larger cities outside the area.

Correction: The original version of this story said Nicholas Alexander would be sworn in as Superior police chief Tuesday. He was actually sworn in on Monday.