OAKLAND (KRON)—The city of Oakland is asking for community feedback Monday night on the process of finding a new police chief.

Their input will be sent to the police chief recruiter.

KRON4’s Alecia Reid reports from the north Oakland Senior Center.

Mayor Libby Schaaf has put together 10 of these forums and what’s interesting is that they have youth leaders holding the meetings.

The mayor’s chief of staff says a part of that reason is because hearing what’s important to the young men and women of the community is vital in the search for a new police chief.

Back in June, Mayor Schaaf appointed David Downing as the acting assistant police chief, so he is now the highest ranking member of the police department.

Before that, Chief Sean Whent stepped down after the sex scandal that involved an underage girl, Celeste Guap and a number of police officers.

Ben Fairow was appointed interim chief. Once news of an affair 10 years ago surfaced, he was stripped of the title.

Paul Figueroa first accepted the interim position then decided he no longer wanted it because his life would be in the spotlight.

It’s been 3 months since Downing has been the top cop at the Oakland Police Department.

Now that the mayor is ready to find a new chief, her office wants to know what people want and the folks that showed up this evening came with their lists ready.

“Majority of these kids, if I don’t know them, I knew their parents went to school with them, grew up in the same block around the corner,” said Daryle Allums, Sr. “So this year me and mom started a movement in Oakland called Stop Killing Our Kids. We’re tired of it. We’re fed up with it, but we need the police department, the police chief support also. We need a police chief just like she was saying to have compassion. Compassion for some of these moms and these fathers and the kids that lost their friends and lost their children.”

There will be five more of these meetings at different centers across the city.

The mayor’s chief of staff says the information they gather will help evaluate the final candidates for chief.