The Honolulu Police Commission announced at a meeting today it selected Pennsylvania-based EB Jacobs as the consulting firm that will help find the next police chief.

The contract was finalized Thursday, commission Executive Director Dan Lawrence said.

After the announcement, four commissioners present held an hour-long teleconference with Jacobs’ executives, offering them input on what they want in the next chief.

The city has received 34 qualified applicants for the job, which pays $191,184 annually.

It’s taken more than two months to select a consultant, partly because the original contract awardee backed out near the end of negotiations in June. Since then, the city and Jacobs have been hashing out the particulars of the contract and going through the necessary due diligence, commission officials said.

As a result, the commission’s timetable to have a chief selected by July has been pushed back until October at the earliest.

Commission Chairman Max Sword said Jacobs is being paid $75,000. Additionally, a local psychologist will be paid about $24,000 to provide input, he said.

Former Police Chief Louis Kealoha retired effective March 1, several months after receiving a letter informing him that he is a target of a federal corruption case.

A Jacobs representative will be in Honolulu in mid-August to talk to other stakeholders about what they want in the next Honolulu chief.

From the input, Jacobs is to come up with its criteria for a preliminary test of the 36 candidates. After the commission pares its list down, the remaining candidates will be tested further at an assessment center.

A final list will then be made public, and the finalists will be interviewed by the commissioners.