The city of Des Moines may steal away Oak Harbor’s favorite police officer.

Lt. John Dyer, the head of the Oak Harbor Police Department’s patrol division, was named this week as one of the top five finalists for police chief of Des Moines.

Dyer, a former school board member, is well known in the community after 28 years with the department. He’s perennially chosen as the “best police  officer” in the News-Times’ Best of Whidbey survey and is involved in the city’s youth commission, along with other community groups.

Dyer also applied to be the new police chief for Oak Harbor to replace retiring Chief Rick Wallace. The application deadline was last Friday.

“My professional goal is to have the opportunity to serve a community as chief of police,” he said. “I am very excited about the opportunity that I have here in Oak Harbor, as this is where my heart is, and I will be working toward that. While the timing of Des Moines is not the best, I feel I should be exploring all opportunities presented to me professionally.”

Dyer completed an 11-week course at the FBI National Academy Program at Quantico last year, which may improve his chances of landing a chief position.

Dyer is facing stiff competition in Des Moines. The other finalists are George Delgado, a police commander from Vancouver, Wash.; Charlie Dennis, a former chief of police in Page, Ariz.; Stephen MacKinnon, chief of police in Santa Paula, Calif.; and Christopher Shawkey, former chief of police in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Dyer and his fellow finalists will go through four separate interviews in Des Moines next Monday. The marathon session ends with a nighttime reception at which members of the public can meet and quiz the candidates.

“This also gives me a good opportunity to see what issues other agencies are going through and how they are dealing with them,” Dyer said.