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4m NEWS InMaricopa.com
March 2012
Getting to know
Chief Steven Stahl
BY TIM HOWSARE
InMaricopa News sat down with Steven Stahl, Maricopa’s new chief of police,
to find out what makes him tick not only as a law enforcement professional,
but as a citizen, father and husband.
Stahl, who lives with his wife Liz in Gilbert, likes to play and watch golf,
exercise and read. He has two adult daughters, Nicole and Katlynn, who live
in the Valley.
Stahl, 51, was raised on a farm in Redfield, N.D., and is the oldest of four
children.
He was hired as interim chief in October through an intergovernmental
with the Mesa Police Department, where he had risen through the ranks to
commander over a 25-year career there. He was sworn in as the permanent
chief at the Feb. 21 Maricopa City Council meeting.
We asked the chief questions about his job as police chief and his professional
background, and about his personal life.
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PROFESSIONAL
SHannon wiLLiaMS
What are three top challenges facing the
Qdepartment?
I think it goes without saying one
of the challenges was the morale of the
police department when I came here.
Morale was pretty low, and I know
there were officers with applications
in at other jurisdictions. I responded
by making myself available to all staff
and inviting all stakeholders into supervisors’
meetings, along with the two
police labor organizations (Fraternal
Order of Police and City of Maricopa
Police Association).
The second challenge is to attack every
piece of the Citygate audit that was
presented at the (Feb. 21) city council
meeting and begin working immediately
on remedies to all those situations
and make the Maricopa Police Department
even better. (Citygate Associates
LLC is a California-based company
specializing in evaluations of management
practices for city departments
and police departments.)
The third is the budget. Every budget
is extremely limited, and we can
never go back to the way police departments
had it five years ago when we got
everything in the way of resources and
people. Now we have to be smart in the
way we use resources.
What are the main safety concerns for
Maricopa residents?
The top public safety concern is for
neighbors to get to know their neighbors.
Criminals are taking advantage that
people might see something suspicious
and not get involved. Even if you are a
seasonal visitor, there are things you
can put in place along with the police
department to help you watch out for
your neighborhood. In Maricopa we
are very good with crimes against persons
and violent crimes, but we have a
lot of work to do with property crimes.
We as a society need to get back to
knowing our neighbors. You are there
24 hours a day, but police can’t be there
24 hours a day.
We want to host block-watch gettogethers
and HOA meetings. We live
in Arizona and it’s beautiful outside;
I’m from the Midwest and that’s what
we did.
How close is the department with hiring
two commanders?
We have extended an offer to one
of the candidates and he has accepted
the offer. He has some things to tie up
before he leaves his other job sometime
in March.
With the second one we are still in
the interview process. This is a very
vital position in the city of Maricopa
and all candidates who have applied
have been extremely qualified. There’s
no question they could do the job, but
whomever I select as the second commander
has to fit with the community
officers and not just myself.
What is your philosophy on law enforce
ment?
My philosophy is very simple. Officers
need to treat every call, everything
they do, as if they are protecting their
own community.
They need to be talking to people.
Not just talking to people who look like
bad people, but talking to good people
in the community. The more you get to
know people in the community the better
policing you can do.
I expect us to ask all kinds of questions
to get to the core of the issues.