In all fairness, this is one where I’ve not been overly supportive of starting our own police force --- at least not early on in my term on council. Because by all accounts we were getting a deal from MCSO, we were getting good or adequate service and crime was either consistent or it was low, which is always a great thing. And I’ll just say since the transition at MCSO, it has noticeably gone downhill and that has played a big role in shifting where I’m at.”

Councilmember Jake Hoffman

By Richard Dyer
Twitter: @RHDyer

The Town of Queen Creek is forming its own municipal police department, setting up an 18-month transition from contracting with Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement.

Mayor Gail Barney made the motion at a recent meeting to move forward with creating a police department, taking the proper steps through the town manager, including putting out a request for proposals for a chief of police.

“(W)e have had excellent deputies from the get-go. We still have excellent deputies --- exceptional, local leadership from the sheriff’s department,” Mayor Barney said prior to a unanimous vote by the Town Council.

“But when I got on council many years ago, we all looked forward to the time when we would have our own police department. We didn’t know when it was going to happen, we knew that certain things needed to happen and we’ve finally grown up to the point where we need community policing,” he said.

“We’ve really outgrown a sheriff’s department... We need our own police department that is accountable to the Town Council and accountable to the town manager to direct reporting and direct responsibility of their actions and who they report to.”

Funds have been set aside in the town’s budget to pay for a municipal police department.

“(W)hat I’m really most proud of is that we’ve been so responsible that we’ve put money aside, it’s earmarked and there will not be a tax increase to move this police department forward,” Councilmember Emilena Turley said prior to the vote.

“That’s something; that’s really a legacy toward our entire community, to the credit of staff and council and everyone. This is the right way to start a police department. We’re really ready. It makes sense. We’re prepared financially,” she said.

Councilmembers said MCSO has provided proper law-enforcement services for the town, but it’s time for a change.

“In all fairness, this is one where I’ve not been overly supportive of starting our own police force --- at least not early on in my term on council. Because by all accounts we were getting a deal from MCSO, we were getting good or adequate service and crime was either consistent or it was low, which is always a great thing. And I’ll just say since the transition at MCSO, it has noticeably gone downhill and that has played a big role in shifting where I’m at,” Councilmember Jake Hoffman said.

The town has outgrown its contract with MCSO, but it’s time to move forward with the transition, members of council say.

“It’s likely one of the largest policy decisions I’ll make on council and it’s definitely not something myself or any of the council has taken lightly,” Vice Mayor Julia Wheatley said. “And absolutely, over the last 30 years as a town, MCSO has served us very well and I believe we’ve outgrown our contract, which we knew would happen at some point, but especially since it will take two years to be fully operational as a police department,” she said.

“I’m very excited to move forward and look forward to this vote,” Councilmember Robin Benning said.

“It’s a bit with a heavy heart that we start this transition, but it is time,” Councilmember Jeff Brown said.

The decision by the Town Council comes at the conclusion of a comprehensive police study by Town Manager John Kross and other employees, and two months of public outreach.

“John (Kross), to you and all of the staff that worked on this: a huge kudos to you,” Councilmember Dawn Oliphant said.

“I mean, we always say the Town of Queen Creek ‘we have the best employees,’ but, my goodness, we have such amazing employees. And to put together what was put together, really in a short amount of time when you think about it ... thank you to them for giving us their expertise and ... just giving us the truth about everything,” she said.

No live audience

When the Queen Creek Town Council on March 18 voted 7-0 to start a police force, it was with no one in the live audience but essential staff members. The change was in response to helping slow the spread of COVID-19.

The meeting was held at the Queen Creek Community Chambers, 20727 E. Civic Parkway, and was streamed live on the town’s website and Ustream account. On the dais were Mayor Barney and Councilmembers Mr. Hoffman and Ms. Turley. Meeting by telephone were Vice Mayor Wheatley and Councilmembers Mr. Benning, Mr. Brown and Ms. Oliphant.

MCSO District 6 – Queen Creek is the town’s current law-enforcement provider, at 20727 E. Civic Parkway.

The town has contracted with MCSO for law-enforcement services since 1990, growing from a quarter of one patrol beat to six beats. From the start of the contract, Queen Creek has grown from just a few thousand residents to more than 52,000, according to the comprehensive town-staff study on law enforcement discussed at the council’s Dec. 4 meeting, with no decision made.

The council decided at that meeting that a 60-day public-outreach process be done on whether to start a police force, contract with a nearby agency or continue with MCSO for law enforcement.

“It was a very ambitious and aggressive one. We had a lot of active participation by the community and you heard the results of that at your annual strategic planning session about two or three weeks ago. That public outreach has now concluded,” Town Manager Kross said at the March 18 council meeting.

“From a communications perspective, we were pleased to see the number of people who at least saw our social-media posts and took the time to go to the website,” Constance Halonen-Wilson, the town’s public information officer, said March 18. “We do have an engaged community, so their comments were thoughtful.”

Feedback from residents

The March 18 date was set after council members learned at a recent strategic planning session that starting a town police force was favored by a majority of residents who provided feedback.

Of 354 individual paper or online response forms received:

• 309 (87.3%) --- made up of 261 residents and 40 non-residents --- were in favor of starting a municipal police force.
• 40 (11.3%) --- 31 residents and nine non-residents --- preferred maintaining a contract with MCSO.
• Five (1.4%) --- four residents and one non-resident --- favored partnering with another agency.

According to Marnie Schubert, the town’s communications, marketing and recreation director, in addition to feedback from a survey, area residents were informed with presentations at:

• Board, committee and other meetings;
• Focus groups were held on Feb. 4 and 6 with faith/nonprofit, schools, businesses and citizen leaders;
• A meeting was held Feb. 4 with homeowners associations
• A public meeting was held Feb. 6 at the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center; and
• Posts and videos were made to the town’s social media accounts.

“It has been a very busy two months,” Ms. Schubert said.

People favoring a municipal police force stated on the forms that they were seeking more direct control over staffing, department priorities and accountability, according to a summary she gave at the strategic planning session.

Other takeaways were that the town’s growth demands a police force rather than being a part of a larger organization that is countywide and the need for better or more community involvement, she said.

“And then the quotes, ‘We’re growing’ and ‘It’s time’ were really, really prevalent,” Ms. Schubert said.

For those in favor of continuing the contract with MCSO, themes included concerns over the cost of starting a municipal police force; they expressed that they were satisfied with the current level of service; they were concerned with the liability the town may take on when starting a police force; and some felt having a police force would take away from the hometown feel, but didn’t explain why they felt that way, Ms. Schubert said.

Councilmembers thanked Ms. Schubert and her team for their outreach efforts concerning the law-enforcement study.

“The No. 1 thing that I heard from people was, ‘Have you already made a decision and you’re just backing it up?’ And I was able to say ‘Honestly, no. We ... haven’t decided already. We really wanted to get at what did our constituents --- our residents -- want.’ And that was hugely powerful for me to be able to say that and to see it backed up,” Councilmember Benning said at the strategy session discussion.

Discussion --- but no vote --- was held on the law enforcement services review. It was the second day Queen Creek Town Council and town employees attended a strategic planning session Feb. 28-29, at the Community Chamber.

“My desire is to come from this meeting with an idea of when we may take a vote and when the process will continue, whatever that vote may be,” Mayor Barney said prior to Ms. Schubert’s presentation and council discussion. “So, I would like the council to think about the timeframe for the next step, determining whether or not we are going to take the vote,” he said.

If the council changes its law-enforcement provider, a transition period would be needed, Town Manager Kross said at the strategic planning session.

“From a staff perspective, the sooner we get that direction the better,” he said. “We reserved budget capacity in order to accommodate that transition and so the expenses don’t land until next fiscal year, of course, but for some key positions, obviously the sooner we get started, the better traction we have in the transition process.”

Now is the time for the council to weigh-in on the future of law-enforcement services in Queen Creek, Councilmember Brown said.

“Considering that we’ve spent the year on the study and then a 60-day outreach, I just think that the time is right to at least get it to the Town Council dais and have the council weigh-in as the residents in a large part already have,” he said.

Mayor Barney expressed his appreciation for MCSO and its deputies.

“We can’t give them enough credit for what they’ve done the last year --- 18 months --- on the extreme circumstances of being understaffed,” he said. “No matter what the vote turns out to be, it’s not a reflection on personnel in the sheriff’s department.”

Mayor Barney asked if staff would need to prepare a plan on how to proceed prior to the council vote.

“The only thing staff needs is a motion to begin the transition process. That’s sufficient for me,” Town Manager Kross said, adding that a schedule would be done to map out critical milestones such as recruiting a police chief.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley
@RHDyer

rdyer@iniusa.org

Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia, Inc.. USA, since 1987. Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions. He also is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows