Richmond Mayor L. Douglas Wilder said today he expects the city's next police chief to be named before the next mayor is elected.

Wilder announced a five-person committee to conduct a national search to find for a successor to Rodney Monroe, who left Richmond this month to become police chief in Charlotte, N.C.

Wilder said he's given the committee no timetable for its search but said the appointment isn't political and need not wait for the mayoral election, as at least one candidate has suggested.

"They're ready to hit the road," he said.

The committee will be led by Eva Teig Hardy, an executive at Dominion Virginia Power. The other members are Michael Herring, the city's commonwealth's attorney; Michael Byrne, a restaurant owner; Sharon Burton, a retired teacher; and Jeff Neal, a Northside business owner.

-- Will Jones