The Ottawa Police Services Board is expected to soon begin interviewing candidates for the vacant chief’s job. My sources say four officers have submitted applications for the gig. They are believed to be:

Deputy Chief Charles Bordeleau: Named deputy chief in August 2010, Bordeleau is seen as an officer who could navigate the politics of City Hall and relationships with various community groups. He is currently in charge of the service’s operations, so boots-on-the-ground policing.

Deputy Chief Gilles Larochelle: He was named deputy chief in November 2007 after being superintendent of the police department’s central division. He is seen as less politically savvy than Bordeleau, but more of a cop’s cop inside the force. Larochelle currently oversees operations support, so things like criminal investigations, emergency operations and cellblocks.

Superintendent Michael Flanagan: Currently in charge of the support services directorate, Flanagan has experience working in the executive office when he was Chief Vern White’s right-hand man. He was more recently put in charge of improvements in the police cellblocks after the Stacy Bonds incident.

Superintendent Tyrus Cameron: He’s the top officer of the criminal investigative directorate, which includes major crimes. One of his last posts before being promoted to superintendent was the oversight of policing downtown sectors.

We’ll see if all four get interviews, but there’s a good chance only the two deputies will get calls to meet with board members. The two superintendents would be considered strong candidates for the subsequently vacant deputy job. The next police board meeting is March 26, so it’s fair to anticipate a winning candidate announced by then.

Just got off the phone with Chief Vern White, who tells me the whole Occupy Ottawa protest at Confederation Park cost Ottawa police $24,000.

Most of the money — $16,000 — was spent early yesterday when officers descended on the park to evict the protesters. The police force had about 100 officers assigned to the eviction and 50 of them came in on overtime.

The money is easily manageable in the police budget, White said. He pointed out police deal with several of these kinds of events each year, so extra costs can be expected.

“For the most part, it wasn’t a high-cost item,” White said.

White conceded that it was police’s decision to enter the park around 2 a.m., requiring those off-duty officers to come in, but he said it was the best time to do it. Police wanted to minimize any negative impact on traffic, he said.

Good for Henry Jensen.

He was the only member of the Ottawa Police Services Board on Monday to question the force’s request for an added $1.15 million for upgrading the emergency generator at Elgin St. headquarters. The board had already approved a $2.5-million budget for the project, but once police received two generators in March they realized the rest of the construction would cost more than expected.

Jensen said it’s “rather unacceptable” that the cost would increase so much.

Look, it’s hard to argue against emergency backup power for your city police force. Having no electricity at the communications hub for your police department is simply unacceptable. So, it’s no surprise the board approved the extra spending on consent.

But it’s nice to see at least one board member asking why the cost went up. Hey, it’s a million bucks. Not necessarily chump change, especially since the police force is already facing budget pressures in overtime and fuel. Plus, the force had to reduce its planned spending by $6 million this year.

The police board has often been considered as simply a rubber stamp for the police force, considering Chief Vern White’s immense popularity with the board and the general public.

There has been a bit of a turnover of board members recently, including the addition of Mayor Jim Watson. It could bring a higher level of scrutiny to police spending, even if it just means asking the questions.