NORTH PROVIDENCE — The search for a permanent chief to run the Police Department is nearing an end, and Mayor Charles Lombardi says he could make a formal announcement as early as Tuesday.

Lombardi said the three-member search panel headed by former state police Supt. Stephen Pare recently sent him a list of four finalists. He said he has interviewed one of the four and expects to meet with the other three over the next couple of days.

“I honestly have not yet made a decision,” he said.

Four officers in the town Police Department received rejection notices in the mail yesterday. Officers at police headquarters said those who were informed included Deputy Chief Paul Marino, Capt. Joseph Sanita and Capt. Alfred Barra and Detective Sgt. Joseph Charette.

Lombardi said he understood that there were 14 applicants and that 10 letters of rejection were sent this week.

It was unclear yesterday whether state police Lt. David Palmer, who has been serving on a month-to-month basis is in the running.

Asked last month whether he had applied for the job, Palmer declined to say.

Lombardi said he has tried to stay detached from the selection process, so as not to be accused of political interference, which he said was one of the problems that haunted the Police Department in the past.

“I think one of the reasons it has taken so long is that there were a lot of things that had to be straightened out in the department. There were too many political things which had gone on in the past.”

The police chief’s position has been vacant since former Chief Ernest Spaziano abruptly retired, after 25 years of service and 6 years as chief, soon after suspended police Sgt. Michael Ciresi, whom he had defended as a character witness during a lengthy trial, was found guilty on eight of nine felonies including two burglaries and attempting to steal cash from a stolen ATM machine.

Besides Pare, other panelists on the search panel were Anthony Silva, chief of the Municipal Police Training Academy and Lt. Thomas Verdi of the Providence Police Department.

Although the salary for a new chief has not been set, Lombardi said two months ago that he thought it would be the same as former chief Spaziano’s, about $82,000 a year.

rdujardi@projo.com