Redmond Mayor John Marchione said the city plans to announce its next police chief April 23.

City officials and police department staff interviewed the two finalists — Bill Gardner and Ron Gibson, both of Colorado — last month and the interviews “went well,” the mayor said.

“We are now conducting background checks and intend to make an announcement on April 23rd,” Marchione said.

Redmond’s longtime Chief Steve Harris retired in early 2009 and Marchione appointed Redmond Fire Chief Tim Fuller as the interim chief to lead the effort to identify the attributes the community wanted in their next police chief. This process, completed in the fall of 2009, led the city to conduct a national search. From the 42 original applications, two were chosen for the final round of interviews.

Gardner is an accomplished law enforcement professional with 33 years of experience. He has worked for various agencies in Colorado, most recently as police chief of Grand Junction. Gardner is a veteran incident commander holding degrees in organizational management and public administration and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Gibson is an experienced leader in law enforcement with a long and varied tenure with the City of Colorado Springs. Joining the department in 1979, he now oversees the Patrol Operations Bureau as a deputy chief.