It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Port Arthur Police Chief Patrick Melvin made the short list for the top job at St. Louis, Missouri’s department.

Melvin has big-city experience in Phoenix, executive credentials from leading two law enforcement agencies and solid academic credentials.

Nor should it surprise anyone that Melvin has encountered trouble at his last two jobs. It’s not easy to lead a department tasked with responding to difficult, dangerous situations, 24-7. Sometimes there is no winning for police.

Here’s where Melvin’s latest job search stood late last week: He was one of six finalists, culled from 42 applicants, who were interviewed in public by St. Louis’ mayor and public safety director. A review committee rated him No. 3. A decision is imminent.

Trust that Melvin is an ambitious man – if he were not, he wouldn’t be chief — and that he wants to lead a big-city department. But St. Louis crime poses problems on a grand scale while Port Arthur poses problems on a smaller one.

A recent study by financial website WalletHub rated 182 U.S. metropolitan areas for safety and St. Louis was No. 181. Big challenge, that.

Worse, St. Louis has been in an uproar for months after a white police officer was found innocent in September of the shooting of a black man in 2011. At last week’s public meeting with the finalists, hecklers showed up to protest the interim St. Louis chief making the cut.

Of course, Melvin has worries of his own here. The Port Arthur Police Association has voted no confidence in his leadership, citing as deficiencies numerous administrative moves as well as his work during Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey; the association said he was oftentimes out of contact with his department.

SafeHome.org also issued results of its own national study last week – everyone has a study, it seems — and Port Arthur presented mixed results. Among Texas cities of 50,000 or more, Port Arthur rated No. 58 for safety.

By SafeHome.org’s measure, Port Arthur showed a year-over-year decrease in violent crime but a 13.4 percent increase in property crime. Ostensibly, the police force appears to have ample staffing – an officer per 338 citizens – but Port Arthur grapples with other issues, including widespread poverty – that create conditions for crime.

Compare Port Arthur’s situation with that of Galveston, similarly sized but with violent and property crime both plunging.

One might have thought Melvin would have stayed around for the challenge of improving Port Arthur safety, that 15 months as chief represents a stopover in our city, not a good-faith effort to make things better.

Nonetheless, Port Arthur leaders are forewarned. Like St. Louis’ leaders, they better prepare for change.