IDAHO FALLS — The City of Idaho Falls hopes to hire a new police chief within the next couple of weeks.

City officials have been looking for a new chief since 31-year veteran Steve Roos announced his retirement late last year. Idaho Falls spokesperson Brad Huerta said 80 people applied for the vacated post, and city officials have whittled the list down to four candidates.

“At this point we are fortunate to have four outstanding finalists from which to choose from,” he said Wednesday.

Two of the candidates are currently working at the Idaho Falls Police Department: Mark McBride and Darren Cook.

McBride has 33 years of law enforcement experience behind him and was working as the captain of the detective division until he stepped in as interim chief, Huerta said. Cook has 25 years of experience and is currently serving as the department’s patrol captain.

The final two candidates are from Washington and New Mexico. Michael Warren is working as the chief of police in Ephrata, Wash. — a city of roughly 7,700 people — and Keith McPheeters is the administrative captain at the police department in Farmington, N.M. — a city of about 47,000 people, Huerta said.

City officials chose the finalists based on their employment applications and telephone interviews, Huerta said, adding that they hope to make a hiring decision soon.