The Town of Queen Creek Police Department (QCPD) continues to grow after launching on Jan. 11, 2022.
For Police Chief Randy Brice, it has been full speed ahead with no looking back as soon as it was determined that QCPD would take over as the town's law enforcement provider, replacing the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office - District 6.
"You have a plan, but when you see it on paper it's really an extraordinary group of people who have done amazing things and we've exceeded my expectations in my own mind," Brice said earlier this year, marking the one-year anniversary of the town's newest department.
Brice spent just 18 months forming the police department of his dreams in Queen Creek. After the Town Council approved establishing a municipal police department at its March 18, 2020 meeting, following a comprehensive police study and extensive public outreach, they hired Brice. He began his role as the town's police chief on July 20, 2020. He was officially sworn in on Dec. 2, 2020.
"I only had a year to put this department together, really. Had to perform some triage and prioritize things," Brice said at the time. "We are much further along than I thought we'd be and we have more to do. There's no checklist when you plan a police department and we did it in the middle of a pandemic. That meant supply issues we had to deal with (getting initial vehicles) and then with the national conversation being negative around police, we had a hard time recruiting officers."
The town has managed to hire more officers since launching 16 months ago. The newest QCPD officers, who have joined the community over the past year, are Zach Akers, Carl Childers, Jacob Johnson, Joel Mercado, Rob Sandoval, Brenton Shipman, Wesley Simms, Jacob Tinto, Erica Vasquez and Katie Williams.
Crismon High School is excited to welcome officer Williams next year as the campus' new resource officer.
QCPD continues to hire and are currently taking applications for lateral officer moves. To learn more, visit QueenCreekAZ.gov/JoinQCPD. Town officials said candidates will experience generous benefits, a family-oriented work environment and professional development opportunities.
The non-emergency number for QCPD is 480-358-3500. To report non-emergency issues and find answers to commonly asked questions, visit QueenCreekAZ.gov/SeeClickFix. The police station in Queen Creek is located at 20727 E. Civic Parkway. Lobby hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
