Officials detail police chief recruitment in public workshop

Assistant city manager Jeff Wyman; Dave Brown, interim director of public safety; Joel Bryden, Bob Murray & Associates. Menifee 24/7 photos: Kristen Spoon

By Doug Spoon, Editor

City of Menifee officials presented details on their recruiting effort for the city's first police chief and received input from a number of residents at a public workshop held on Wednesday.

Most of the questions were answered by Joel Bryden, a retired police chief and a recruiter for Bob Murray & Associates, the firm that has been hired by the city to coordinate the recruiting effort. Former Hemet police chief Dave Brown, hired as interim director of public safety, and city manager Armando Villa also interacted with residents.

This is part of the process begun in November when the Menifee City Council approved a resolution to create the city's own police department. This is expected to take place within the next year or 18 months, replacing the city's contract with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

It is an ambitious project for the city, which would become one of the few cities in Southern California to break away from contract law enforcement and create a start-up police department. The only two cities to do so in recent years are Irvine and Murrieta, which has had great success with its own department.

The workshop centered on the search for a police chief, who would be on board for approximately a year before such a department would be activated. The chief would be responsible with securing equipment, vehicles, hiring personnel, and other start-up projects. Brown -- who said Wednesday he does not plan to apply for the position -- is serving as a consultant.

According to adjustments in the city budget approved by the City Council Wednesday night, Brown is scheduled to be paid $80,000 over the next six months. The amended budget also allocates $75,600 for the salary of a police chief through the remainder of the fiscal year, although city officials aren't sure exactly when that administrator would come onto the payroll.

"We're allotting funds for the chief's salary to begin April 1," assistant city manager Jeff Wyman told the City Council Wednesday night.

A large crowd attended Wednesday's public workshop about the Menifee Police Department.

The city also has budgeted $24,000 to pay Murray & Associates for its services. It has been used by many cities to recruit high-level personnel and employs former law enforcement officers to do so.

"Bob Murray & Associates is where I looked when I found the position I was hired for in Walnut Creek," said Bryden. "We reach out to see those who don't see the traditional ads that are posted for a position like this. I screen all the resumes, keep notes on every applicant, and present about a dozen preliminary applicants to the city to consider."

Bryden said he has already reached out to two or three "very qualified" individuals he asked to apply. He said out-of-state applicants will "have a higher hurdle to get over" for serious consideration. Applicants must have a Bachelor's degree and experience in law enforcement management.

As of Wednesday, Bryden said he had received 22 applicants for the position. The deadline for applications is Feb. 8, with panel interviews scheduled to be held in early March.

To fund the start-up efforts, the City Council Wednesday night voted to allocate $2.7 million in Measure DD funds collected in 2017-18 and 2018-19 to the budget for the Menifee Police Department. These funds were previously planned to pay for the additional 20 patrol hours per week contracted for with the Sheriff's Department, but that department hasn't been able to provide the additional personnel to fill those hours.

Bryden, Brown, Villa and other city officials listened intently to the suggestions made by residents at the workshop. Topics ranged from a request for body cameras on all officers to expanded police presence at schools and, of course, shorter response times and more boots on the ground.

"It's important for us to hear from you, so thank you for your input," Villa told those in attendance. "A lot of what you said resonates with me. We want to hire someone who will be innovative and build a police department of the future. We want someone who understands our crime profile, someone who's not afraid of technology and to work with community groups."

The current Sheriff's Department contract amount of $17.1 million pays for 58 deputies, but only 15 are dedicated to Menifee, city attorney Jeffrey Melching told the council during a meeting in November. All deputies work out of the Sheriff's Perris station. Menifee is patrolled by shifts of five officers per shift for a city of 46 square miles.

In the Menifee Police Department plan, all 55 sworn officers would be dedicated to Menifee, with nine officers per shift patrolling the streets. The addition of 19 civilian employees would be a less expensive way of handling administrative duties currently performed by Sheriff's personnel.