Orangeville residents should know within a matter of days who their police chief will be.

The town's Police Services Board, following a series of interviews, is in the final stages of selecting a new chief to replace Rod Freeman, who recently accepted the position of Deputy Chief in the Oxford County police force.

Speculation that Inspector Wayne Davis would become the new chief ended when he submitted his resignation on Oct. 12. He and Inspector Mike Robinson had been acting as co-chiefs on an interim basis.

The resignation more or less coincided with Constable Sean Taylor-Cole's apparent abandonment of a $2.5-million lawsuit against the board, the former chief, Insp. Davis and and two sergeants, but sources have said the two are totally unrelated.

Police services board chair Cynthia Raeburn said Insp. Davis was eligible to retire, as he had served sufficient years, She declined to comment further.

Acting Chief Robinson said that Insp. Davis had resigned to pursue a new career, and that he was already employed.

Mayor Rob Adams agreed that "the timing was not great," but said he was aware that Mr. Davis had been working toward a new career for some time prior to his resignation.

In the meantime, lawyers for the police have issued a news release in which they say generally that various agencies have found there was no wrongdoing on the part of the police.

On Monday, Acting Chief Robinson said he was not among the applicants for the position of police chief, as he did not aspire to the post.

Ms. Raeburn would not comment on the selection process except to say that information would be available after the final selection has been made.

Mayor Adams, however, said the Board had followed provincial policy by obtaining community feedback, advertising in police magazines, and posting the opening internally, among other things.

He couldn't say how many applications there had been, but did say they had been wide ranging, "from all over the place."

The mayor said the Human Resources office has conducted its first and second interviews. He said it is contacting references and generally following "due diligence" with a short list of preferred candidates - possibly as few as two. He expected a decision would be made within the next week.

In a statement released Wednesday by Cst. Scott Davis, the force's communications officer, Insp. Davis said he had submitted his notice of retirement to the Board on Sept. 28.

"I notified my fellow employees later that same day. I felt there was no need to publicize this further as frankly I felt that it was not newsworthy beyond the confines of the OPS.

"However certain other well-publicized news items, coupled with the timing of my announcement, has led to speculation that the two events are somehow linked.

"For what it's worth, I'd like to go on record as stating that neither a pending civil proceeding initiated by a disgruntled officer nor the prospect of working for a chief from an outside agency had anything whatsoever to do with my decision.

"After almost 32 years in the business I had decided to pursue another opportunity outside of policing that presented itself and that required me to commit one way or the other in fairly short order. Nothing more and nothing less.

"I've had the pleasure of working for and with many great people over the years at the Orangeville Police Department, Force and Service. It is a first-rate, professional and wellrespected organization and I'm very confident that my long-time friend and colleague Acting Chief Mike Robinson, along with the new chief, will continue to lead, direct and inspire the exceptional men and women under their command to serve our community with dedication, honour and integrity.

"Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to clear the air.