A few familiar names have popped up in the list of applicants for the police chief spot in Port Arthur.

Officially, there were 39 applications received for the position, including one current Port Arthur Police officer and five who have previously worked for PAPD.

The current and past PAPD officers include:

• Deputy Chief Martin “Bubba” Blitch of Port Arthur. He has 32 years experience in law enforcement.
• Alton Baise of Port Arthur. Fugitive warrant officer with Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and a former PAPD officer.
• Rodney Balsamo of Port Neches, former PAPD officer 35 years, current real estate agent.
• Jon Carona of Port Neches, former PAPD 27½ years, real estate agent.
• Timothy Duriso of Beaumont. Former PAPD officer, mostly recently with the Drug Enforcement Administration.
• John Leger of Port Neches. Former PAPD officer, worked with the attorney general’s office and now with Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

Other applicants include:

• Mike Alexander of Pfugerville
• Otto Arnim of Uvalde
• Paul Boothe of Dallas
• Tammy Burr of San Antonio
• Lorenzo Burrell of Fort Worth
• Jesus “Eddie” Campa of El Paso
• Quitman Carter of California
• Rodney Chaison of Houston
• Brian Churchill of Indiana
• Cedric Davis Sr. of Balch Springs
• Thomas Davis, of Nacogdoches
• Ricardo Flores of Lardeo
• John Hall of Spring
• Mike Hasselbrink of Rockvale, Texas
• Scott Heavey of Rockwall, Texas
• Ray Kilburn of Manchaca, Texas
• Kenneth Jacobs of San Antonio
• Robert Jones of San Antonio
• Lawrence Hall of Allen, Texas
• Steven McCarver of Wentzville, Missouri
• Glenn Meeks of Canton, Texas
• John Morris of Yuma, Arizona
• Michael Nelson of Amarillo
• Scott Peters of Waxachie, Texas
• Henry Porretto of Galveston
• Michael Pribble of Humble
• David Randall of Oklahoma
• Jairo Saenz of San Antonio
• Danny Steffenauer of Pasadena
• Bryant Thomas of McKinney, Texas
• Anthony Williams of Cedar Hill, Texas
• Eric Williams of South Carolina
• Reginald Winston of Casa Grande, Arizona

Monique LaFleur, director of human resources, said the list has been reduced to about 10 applicants and interviews are being conducted this week.

No further information was available about the process the city will use to choose the finalists or if the 10 are the finalists.

The News has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for the names of those 10 applicants.

When hired, the new chief will replace former chief Patrick Melvin, who resigned his post May 19 after less than two years with the department.

Melvin was most recently named a finalist for the top position at Globe, Arizona, according to the Arizona Silver Belt newspaper.