A Troy Police Department captain has been selected as the City of Milan’s new police chief.

Gerard Scherlinck was chosen out of two finalists. But Mayor Kim Muckler stressed that he has not been officially hired.

Muckler said Scherlinck still has not accepted the position, no salary has been determined and he must pass a background and psychological check before he is approved for the position. She also said there other conditions that must be met that she couldn’t discuss.

Although the decision was made in a public meeting, it didn’t become widely known until Milan City Council Member Martha Churchill posted the news on her personal Facebook page on Friday, May 25.

Scherlinck has served as part of the City of Troy Police Department’s command staff since 1992 and started his law enforcement career there in 1986.

Per Milan’s city charter, the mayor can appoint the police chief without city council approval, but Muckler convened an eight-person citizen’s advisory panel to help make the decision.

Churchill said the panel included a range of representatives including those from the business community, church community, an Ann Arbor firefighter who lives in Milan, a police dispatcher, several council members and the mayor.

The panel interviewed Scherlinck on May 23 and the other finalist, Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Dave Egeler, on May 24.

The meetings were public, and Muckler and Churchill said the panel came to a consensus that Scherlinck was the better candidate following an hour-long discussion after the May 24 interview.

Muckler said she called Scherlinck after that discussion and told him he was selected.

Churchill said she thought Scherlinck was a good communicator and possessed the type of “authoritative personality” needed to run the police department effectively.

“We felt he could do that and he would do that,” she said.

“The bottom line is ... we felt Mr. Scherlinck was a better fit, and the entire community panel felt the same way,” Muckler said.

But she added she felt the announcement on Churchill’s Facebook page was “preliminary” and she wanted to call Egeler before the decision was announced there.

“The main thing is I feel really bad about the way Mr. Egeler was treated,” Muckler said. “I really would have liked him to find out from us first and not from a Facebook post or a newspaper article. It’s just a matter of courtesy.”

The chief’s position has been vacant since Jeff Lewis departed in January for a position as the head of public safety for the City of Muskegeon. Jeremy Neiman has served as interim chief since then.