TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa residents got the chance Wednesday to meet two of the final three candidates in the running to be the city's next police chief.

The candidates are interim Chief Ruben "Butch" Delgado, Miami Police Department Assistant Chief Cherise Giordani Gause and former Tampa police Assistant Chief Mary O’Connor.

Delgado was unable to attend Wednesday’s candidates forum because of a family emergency.

The selected candidate will replace Brian Dugan, who left the position in September.

O’Connor and Gause answered questions from an invitation-only audience that included neighborhood association members, elected officials and other community leaders.

Mayor and former Chief Jane Castor was also in attendance.

"Wellness. wellness as a community,” Gause said of her approach. “And I mean that as a holistic approach. (Residents) need to feel safe, they need to feel confident, they need to feel they can trust their police department."

O’Connor said: “I will be focused on crime, I'll be focused on building relationships with the community, officer wellness, training as well as technology.”

Castor said she’ll likely make a decision on the hire next week.