DALTON, Ga. — Two dozen people have applied to be Dalton’s next police chief.

City Administrator Jason Parker said when the deadline for applications closed at noon on Thursday the city had received 24 applications.

“Six of those are from within the department and the rest are from outside the department,” he said.

The position of police chief opened up in January when then-chief Parker stepped down after he was selected as city administrator by the City Council. The Dalton Public Safety Commission originally opened the job up only to members of the Dalton Police Department. It had received six applications from within the department when the first deadline for applications closed in January.

But the decision to look only within the department for the next chief was greeted with concern by some members of the community because of the lack of diversity within the department.

According to data supplied by the department, of the Dalton Police Department’s 82 sworn officers, only four are Hispanic and none are black. All of its 20 executive, command and supervisory positions are filled by white males. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, non-Hispanic whites make up less than half of the city’s population.

PSC members then decided to open up the applications to candidates from outside the department.

Parker said Thursday he did not know how many of the applicants are female or are non-white.

“We do not ask for that information in the applications,” he said. “You could probably look at the names and figure out who is male or female. But the only way we will know for sure what someone’s race or sex is is if the PSC brings them in for an interview and they find out then.”

Parker said 21 of the 24 applicants are from within Georgia and three are from other states. He could not immediately say which states the other applicants are from.

Phone messages left for PSC Chairman Bill Weaver and PSC member Carlos Calderin were not immediately returned Thursday afternoon. Other members of the PSC could not be reached on Thursday.