Mesa police officers await direction under new chief

Gary Nelson and Art Thomason - Mar. 2, 2010 10:32 AM
The Arizona Republic .

When Mayor Scott Smith helped introduce Mesa's new police chief last week, he said several times he expected Frank Milstead to take the department to the "next level."

That challenge began for the former Phoenix Police Department commander Monday night when the City Council, in a unanimous vote, accepted City Manager Chris Brady's recommendation that Milstead be Mesa's top law enforcement officer.

Defining Smith's expectation is a tall order - especially when the department has already knocked Mesa's crime down to rates not seen in almost half a century.

The six-month search that led to Milstead's appointment created "a wonderful problem" for the city, Smith said.

"And that problem is, we have a great police department. . . . Sometimes that actually makes it a little more challenging to find the right leader." He added, "When things are all screwed up, we need an agent of change."

Right now, he said, Mesa doesn't need that kind of a new chief. "We're really looking for a leader who can take us to that next level."

When asked what that might mean, Milstead, 47, said his first goal is to "take the time to immerse myself in this organization and understand the culture and understand what all those issues are."

At that point Brady stepped in and said he expects all city departments to look for innovative ways to deliver their services. "We're always looking to continually improve," Brady said.

Addressing the Council after his selection, Milstead said, "I think the direction I got from the city council, the mayor and city manager is very clear and think it's a very noble mission and I'm proud to be your new police chief."

He said he looks forward to building relationships with each of the council members and the mayor, "trying to identify what is particularly important to your council district and how the police department can help provide you a way to solve some of those issues."

"The city of Mesa is an incredible place," he said. "I really like the community, the warmth of the community and I really think this police department is an excellent police department and I look forward to moving it forward and taking it to another level."

Brady, Smith and others contacted by The Mesa Republic said any one of the five finalists - including Mesa's three assistant chiefs - would have made a good chief.

Smith said during Monday's council meeting that he hopes those internal candidates will stay with the department.

"What you look for next," Brady said, "is that chemistry, that mix (with) where we are today in our department and what we're looking forward to. I think Frank brings that. I think he will be a strong communicator. He will be very engaged with the community."

Brady said Milstead will be expected to hone the department's use of COMPSTAT, which former Chief George Gascón introduced shortly after he arrived in 2006. It's a way of using computerized statistics to track crime and zero in on perpetrators.

Gascón also led creation of the East Valley Gang and Criminal Information Fusion Center, which is located at Mesa police headquarters and helps police agencies across the Valley share crime data.

Crime has fallen in Mesa for the past several years, and in 2009, the police department said the city recorded only 33 violent and property crimes per 1,000 residents - lower than the 40 per 1,000 reported in 1963. Overall violent and property crime dropped 9 percent in 2009 over the previous year.

Councilman Scott Somers said picking Mesa's next chief was harder this time than last.

"My impression was there was a clear head and shoulders above the rest choice" when Gascón applied, Somers said. "This time around everyone seemed to have various strengths and I could see any one of them occupying the position of chief."

Before casting his vote Monday night, Smith said selecting Milstead from a group of finalists was not a matter of deciding "who was better than the other or who was worse."

"But at some point in time you need to choose that person who's the right fit for that time for the problems, challenges and opporunities we have."

Vice Mayor Kyle Jones said Monday that he hopes the community "rallies together" in support of Milstead.

"There's a lot that need to happen as far as getting everybody up to speed," he said. "We've been in interim mode even though we've been functioning well and it's time to move forward."

Milstead has spent his entire career in the Phoenix Police Department, last serving as commander of the Homeland Defense Bureau, which involves multi-agency collaboration across numerous jurisdictions, including the federal level.

He will move his family to Mesa as soon as he can sell his house in Phoenix.