Queen Creek police chief aiming to avoid another tragedy as 1-year mark of Preston Lord death nears

PHOENIX — As the one-year mark of the death of Preston Lord nears, the police chief in the town where the 16-year-old was attacked believes law enforcement is making strides to avoid another tragedy.

Queen Creek’s Randy Brice told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Wednesday that community awareness and vigilance when it comes to youth violence has been a key part of his department’s message in the wake of Lord’s death.

“The nice thing about remembering Preston at this one-year mark is that we cannot forget him and what he represents,” Brice said. “We need people to pay attention and continue to, but in general, yes, I do think we’re getting our hands around this particular type of thing but we’re not immune to violence.”

Preston Lord case a learning experience for Queen Creek police

Brice is hoping the public doesn’t let the memory of Lord — or brutality of the attack — wane as more time passes since his death.

Lord was attacked by a group of youths outside a Halloween party on Oct. 28, 2023. He died two days later at a hospital.

“At the one-year mark, typically you’ll see people are still interested,” Brice said. “But as the time goes on, sometimes we forget about the victims and it’s really, really important because I think humanizing these situations is where we really are helping drive our interest and our momentum, so we cannot forget Preston or the family.”

His alleged attackers face first-degree murder charges and are awaiting trial. Across the East Valley, dozens of youth violence cases became publicized in the following months as a result.

Even so, the seven charged in Lord’s case weren’t arrested until four months after the attack.

Brice said that immediate backlash regarding the case and the overall lack of police action on youth violence in the East Valley was understandable. He added that the nature of the attacks were new to the department at the time but that it is better equipped to deal with them now.

“I understand that the scrutiny in the beginning of this was, ‘why didn’t you guys see this?’ and hindsight’s always 20/20 for us,” Brice said. “We had never seen this type of swarming but as we look back and start to see all those different things, it’s a little more clear these are just cold-blooded attacks.”

How does Queen Creek plan to mitigate youth violence moving forward?

Moving forward, Brice said his department, which began service in January 2022, learned how to better distribute information on high-profile cases in a timely manner as a result of the Lord case.

“What I probably learned most just from a chief perspective is that it’s super important for us to be out in the media early and giving as much information as possible,” Brice said. “While I think we did a good job, I think we could have done a better job from my agency perspective.

“I wish we’d have been out there a little early just to clear things up.”

Brice said continued community outreach has been important to not only stopping violence but also informing potential victims of how to be knowledgeable about dangerous situations.

“We’re going to hold you responsible and if you commit this kind of crime, we have the structure and the will to do those things,” Brice said. “We want people to be prepared on the other side of that — the potential victims — to watch out and be cognizant.”

Even if Queen Creek is making strides in youth violence, Brice doesn’t want progress to slow.

“We don’t take our foot off the pedal at this point,” Brice said. “We have got to keep the momentum going and I always get nervous to say, ‘hey we turned the corner’ because I don’t want people to feel comfortable. I want them to be on edge a little bit, to know that we have to stay vigilant about this.”

Follow @DannyShapiro13