Inaugural Queen Creek police chief lays out vision for department

PHOENIX — The new year will bring in a new cadre of police officers and sergeants in Queen Creek.

That’s the goal for Randy Brice, who is the inaugural police chief for the Queen Creek Police Department, which was launched in March.

Brice told KTAR News 92.3 FM that his goal is to have the department up and running by January 2022.

Brice said the department is launching its hiring process for nine sergeants and 44 sworn officer positions in January, looking for the right candidates to build a strong police force in the East Valley town.

“We have been moving at a frenetic pace. It’s incredible, even though I’ve been in law enforcement for close to 30 years,” Brice said. “You don’t realize all the little things that go into standing up a police department because you take those things for granted working for a place that’s been well established.”

Brice said the timeline for launching the department has steadily moved forward despite issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and with vendors they’ve been working with.

The longtime law enforcement officer said his goal is to hire personnel that want to serve the community as a whole, building bonds with those they’re tasked with protecting.

“We’re looking for individuals that are interested in that service to the community, where they have the opportunity every single day to make a difference,” Brice said. “And in today’s environment for law enforcement that’s sometimes difficult for these officers to feel that they have the support and the atmosphere necessary to make that connection.

“So we’re going to focus quite a bit on looking for people that have that guardian mindset and want to have that service-oriented atmosphere, whether it’s from us, being supportive as an administration to the way the community responds to us.”

Brice said the town’s existing law enforcement contract with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office will continue up until they take over in 2022.

For now, the timeline for Brice and the department is to fill the sergeant and officer positions by July of 2021 and spend the latter part of the year going through all the training and qualification processes necessary to get everything up and running by January of 2022.

The Queen Creek Police Department will launch their hiring process on Jan. 4, according to Brice, with applications accepted via the department’s website.

Brice is excited to bring a host of law enforcement officers on-board, taking the next step in the department’s development.

Much of that excitement stems from the community that the department will serve, according to Brice, with a population that will welcome its new officers with open arms.

“The great thing about the town of Queen Creek, it’s like one of those oasis of support,” Brice said. “The town loves their public safety personnel and I’ve never seen a community more excited about having a police department start up.

“So the people that are walking into this opportunity, it’s historic. You have a place that wants you to be here, that’s going to support you and we have the opportunity to start on the right foot.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Griselda Zetino contributed to this report.

Follow @cgboan