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Back in May, Paul Marzocca walked into El Mirage City Hall for human resources orientation.
After completing paperwork, he opened the doors of the El Mirage Police Department as the city’s next chief.
“A good day for El Mirage,” city spokeswoman Amber Wakeman said.
Police chief Paul Marzocca started his new role May 21, coming from Goodyear as that city’s assistant chief of police.
“I was totally content. I loved working for Goodyear,” he said. “I thought I would retire there. I needed something else. I was sitting at my desk, turned on my computer, and I went to the International Association of Chief of Police website. I looked at jobs and the first day El Mirage posted was when I noticed it. And I was like, ‘That’s meant to be.’”
Family roots and School
Mr. Marzocca comes from a family where his father, full-time officer, and grandfather, auxiliary/volunteer officer, served at the Abington Police Department in Massachusetts.
“I remember my dad coming home in the morning and taking his boots off when I was 4 years old,” Mr. Marzocca said. “From that point I always wanted to be a police officer.”
But it was not only his paternal lineage in police work that got him interested in the profession. Watching the show “CHiPs” made him want to be a motorcycle officer.
After high school, Mr. Marzocca attended Massasoit Community College in Brockton, Massachusetts, a campus that was known for its law enforcement program.
In 1991 he earned his degree and was applying for jobs. However, he found it hard to find one in Massachusetts.
He had to complete a civil service test in which he had to write down three places he wanted to go.
“If you don’t score 100 and have all these preference points it’s very difficult to get hired,” he said. “If I wanted to achieve my dream I had to move. So, I ended up coming to Arizona.”
Enter Joe Arpaio.
Early years in Arizona
Mr. Marzocca arrived in Maricopa County, working under newly-minted Sheriff Joe Arpaio in 1992.
Mr. Marzocca worked at the Estrella jail first before becoming one of the first six officers to work at Tent City. He still has a clipping of a newspaper which shows him at the facility, which closed in 2017.
While working with MCSO, he entered the reserve police academy and was sponsored by the Glendale Police Department. Totaling upwards of 700 hours he became a reserve police officer.
In 1995, Mr. Marzocca applied for positions with El Mirage and Surprise. He had just finished his oral board with El Mirage, and was supposed to have one the next day with Surprise. But El Mirage wanted Mr. Marzocca right then and there.
22 years in Goodyear
But the following year he joined the Goodyear Police Department.
He finally attained the “CHiPs” life, working his way from graveyard to traffic officer and getting to ride a Harley Davidson.
Mr. Marzocca has served in roles like patrol officer, sergeant, lieutenant and even in the administrative side of the department.
“It was an eye-opening experience, learning about budget, asset forfeiture, records, redaction, Mr. Marzocca said. “All these things that I never knew as a cop this was involved in a police agency.”
In 2011, Goodyear Police Chief Mark Brown and Commander Ralph McLaughlin resigned in the aftermath of a whistleblower investigation into the death of Jared Pendleton.
Mr. Marzocca had filled an interim role in the commander position but was promoted full-time. The official title changed to deputy chief, which he served in until being hired on as El Mirage’s chief.
Plans for El Mirage
He hopes to bring some of the community building activities done in Goodyear 12 miles north to El Mirage.
Goodyear police is one of several agencies that host Coffee with a Cop events at local restaurants to have an informal conversation with residents.
He also wants to bring a “Blue Lunch” to El Mirage, meaning officers going to schools on a certain day, serving the kids lunch or eating with them. Mr. Marzocca would also like to see a softball game in conjunction with the Special Olympics athletes in the area.
“Building those deposits in the community with the younger generation so when they get older they can say I know officer so and so,” Mr. Marzocca said.
He’s off to a good start, attending the El Mirage Cares Event — Stand Up, Speak Up, Save A Life, which focuses on drugs, communication and awareness, on June 7.
“This was a wonderful community event where the Chief, County Attorney’s office and other experts spoke to adults and children about drug awareness and prevention,” Ms. Wakeman said.
One of the most rewarding things for Mr. Marzocca while working in Goodyear was the residents’ 97 percent satisfaction rate for feeling safe in the city.
“Our stuff was working,” he said. “So that’s what I want to bring here.”
While Mr. Marzocca finds the police and community in El Mirage to have a good relationship, he wants that to be maintained while he is chief.
“It’s doing those positive things, hoping it will have an outcome in the end,” he said. “One thing that bothers me terribly is you’ll see a child in a family and they go ‘Oh if you don’t behave he’s going to arrest you.’ It’s like ‘No I don’t want to teach them that. Let them know we’re here to help you not to be your enemy.’
“It’s more rewarding to build a child than to repair a man.”
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