It's been 16 months since the job opened up, and interviews with the finalists for the job as the next superintendent and colonel of the Massachusetts State Police are taking place as the hiring process moves into the end stages.

The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security told the News Service that Gov. Maura Healey's six-person search committee is done with its review of applicants "and final interviews with the most qualified candidates are underway." EOPSS did not disclose the number of applications it got for the job by October's deadline and this week did not say how many candidates were involved in the final interviews.

The State Police has been under the leadership of Interim Col. John Mawn Jr. since Col. Christopher Mason retired in February 2023. EOPSS did not respond to questions this week about any potential timeline for hiring a new superintendent.

Healey said last year that she is looking for someone with "integrity and managerial competence" to lead the department on a more permanent basis. She is the first governor able to take advantage of a provision of the 2020 policing reform law allowing the State Police colonel to be hired from outside of the department's current ranks.

EOPSS said the MSP colonel job search "has been a competitive process, with interest shown from both external and internal candidates."

Under Massachusetts law, the superintendent must have at least 10 years of full-time experience as a sworn law enforcement officer and no less than five years of full-time experience in a senior administrative or supervisory position in a police force or a military body with law enforcement responsibilities. They must also be or become certified by the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, and must not smoke any tobacco product. The job is expected to pay in the range of $275,000 to $300,000 a year, according to materials shared by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

State Police Association of Massachusetts President Brian Williams told the News Service in March that the agency is now feeling the effects of a dearth of graduates from its academy training program from 2006 through 2012 and struggles to compete with compensation offered by some local police departments.

At a budget hearing that same month, Public Safety and Security Secretary Terrence Reidy told lawmakers he's worried about the future of public safety in Massachusetts given the challenges all types of law enforcement agencies face recruiting new candidates for jobs.