On April 2nd, Menifee City Hall was buzzing with the eager and hopeful faces of the community as 35 year Police Force Veteran, Pat Walsh, former Police Chief of Lompoc, was inaugurated as Menifee’s first Chief of Police. The monumental day marks the beginning of Menifee’s very own Police Department.
Dave Brown, Interim Director of Public Safety, opened the ceremony with the Pledge of Allegiance and warmly welcomed all to “this super exciting and historic event” and went on to recognize the dignified attendees. Representatives from Menifee, Canyon Lake, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, Indio, and members from law enforcement from across Southern California (Huntington Beach, Corona, CHP, Riverside, Murrieta) were honored and received recognition by all in attendance.
Mayor, Bill Zimmerman took to the stage to welcome Pat Walsh and his wife Catherine. “Today is one of those milestones along the way that my colleagues and I, our City Council, and this management team had resolved to do. I’m really proud of this team for making that initial decision to form a Municipal Police Department”, Mayor Zimmerman says. “It’s possibly the biggest decision that this city council here in Menifee will ever make”.
The process for creating a Municipal Police Department does not happen overnight. Many cities are under contract from their County Sheriff’s Office, and rarely break away to form their own Municipal Department, which is why this decision is extremely monumental. Menifee is on track to become one of the 40 Municipal Police Departments in the State of California, which will commence service on July 1st, 2020.
California State law gives exclusive authority to the City Manager to appoint the Chief of Police. Menifee City Manager, Armando Villa, speaks about the painstaking process of selecting and appointing the Chief of Police: “This wasn’t an easy process for me… I spent countless hours not sleeping about this because the responsibility to select the first chief was a very important decision for me”. City Manager, Villa, called upon the community to help him with the tough decision by holding a two hour workshop with members of the public. He gathered what the community thought to be the most important attributes of a Police Chief and held all the applicants to the standards brought up by the citizens of Menifee: “We need a person that has leadership skills, a visionary, an innovator, and an accessible person”. Villa goes on to say: “I’m here to tell you all, we found our guy. Pat fits all those attributes very well”.
Pat Walsh took to the podium to thank many people who contributed to his nomination and to give his praise for the steps that the City Council has taken to form their own department. “Everybody is talking about Menifee, not just the Police Department but about your city”, Walsh says. “I am part of a lot of groups that are state-wide, California Police Chiefs Association, and all of us chiefs kinda talk… and Menifee keeps coming up, and now that you’re doing this it’s a big deal. This is a Big Deal”. Walsh emphasizes the rare opportunity for creating a brand new culture within a brand new Police Department. When new chiefs take over an already established department, they inherit the culture that comes along with it. “Here we have an opportunity to create the culture we want… I want officers that are innovative, technologically savvy, … I want them to think outside of the box, and I want them to communicate a lot”. Walsh says. “My philosophy is community policing, but you won’t hear me say that a lot because we’re just gonna do it, and we’re gonna pick the right kind of people and they’re gonna do it as well”.
Closing remarks were given by Chad Bianco, Sheriff of the Riverside County Police Department. Sheriff Bianco welcomed Pat Walsh to Riverside County Law Enforcement and assured to all that “We are not politicians [Law Enforcement Officers] … you guys are the most important thing to us, and we’re going to make sure that you are successful in your Police Department”.
Sheriff Walsh’s first town hall meeting will take place on April 23rd at 6pm, located at the Kay Ceniceros Senior Center, 29995 Evans Rd, Sun City, Ca 92586.
