The closely watched search for a police chief enters its final phase when the Honolulu Police Commission gathers today to come up with a list of finalists from a semifinalist roster of nine.

The nine candidates went through a battery of testing in what’s known as an “assessment center” held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Tuesday and Wednesday. Consultant EB Jacobs and six community stakeholders were to rank the scores and submit their recommendations to the commission this morning.

Commissioners had not been told who the nine are, Commission Chairman Max Sword said Wednesday night.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser has, however, confirmed the names of the nine semifinalists. They are:

>> Tommy Aiu, retired Drug Enforcement Agency agent

>> Susan Ballard, current HPD major

>> Kurt Kendro, retired HPD major

>> Kevin Lima, retired HPD assistant chief

>> Mark Lomax, retired Pennsylvania State Police major

>> Jim Lowery, current Arlington, Texas, Police Department deputy chief

>> Darryl Perry, current Kauai Police chief

>> Paul Putzulu, retired HPD deputy chief

>> Gary Yamashiroya, former Chicago Police Department commander now living in Hawaii.

Putzulu and Yamashiroya were among six finalists when retired Chief Louis Kealoha was selected by the commission in 2009, while Ballard was among four finalists when Boisse Correa was picked in 2004.

Sword said depending on how the candidates scored, his personal preference is that the commission select a minimum of five or up to all nine finalists today.

A panel of six community stakeholders helped Jacobs’ staff conduct the assessment center: retired HPD Chief Lee Donohue; former Honolulu Managing Director Bob Fishman; former Police Commission executive director Greg Gilmartin; former Kauai Police Department officer and commissioner Charlie Iona; retired HPD Assistant Chief Mark Nakagawa; and former Hawaii U.S. attorney Florence Nakakuni.

The public will be able to provide oral testimony on the candidates at the commission’s Oct. 4 meeting.

Sword said he hopes a final selection can be made by the end of October.

The commission has seven seats but only five commissioners will decide who will be chief. Luella Costales resigned abruptly Monday after voicing objections to the hiring process, specifically that the four people chosen by Jacobs to score the tests taken by 24 candidates did not reflect Honolulu’s demographic diversity. Marc Tilker resigned for personal reasons earlier this year and Mayor Kirk Caldwell has not appointed a replacement.

The chief’s job pays $191,184 annually.

Kealoha retired at the end of February amid controversy. In December, he was issued a target letter from federal officials informing him that he is a target in a federal investigation.