(Photo courtesy of Santa Cruz Police Department)
SANTA CRUZ — Santa Cruz Police Department’s new chief started his job Monday, taking the reins of a department he said has been well-managed and appears to be “in good shape.”
Andrew Mills said he plans to tackle citywide problems such as homelessness, drug addiction and mental health issues, which he said he successfully dealt with in his previous positions.
Mills most recently served as the Chief of Police for Eureka, a city of about 30,000 residents.
Mills said his department partnered with homelessness services and mental health providers to address the issue as a whole, but also worked to help individual homeless people.
“We were able to successfully move about 300 people from being unhoused to being housed, and that can only take place when there is a collaborative relationship with the community,” Mills said.
Before his time in Eureka, Mills was a San Diego Police captain assigned to Eastern and Western Divisions, both of which had populations of about 150,000 residents and 200 employees.
As chief, Mills said he will encourage his department to use the least amount of force possible through what he called “tactical de-escalation training.”
That philosophy of defusing tense encounters with suspects who are not wielding guns is being embraced by police departments across the U.S., even as they face increasing scrutiny for their use of force.
Before serving as a captain, Mills served as the commanding officer of Criminal Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, two tours in the Gang Unit, created an in-house intelligence collection system and served on a statewide executive committee for gangs.
In addition, Mills helped create and implement the Major City Chief’s Criminal Intelligence Enterprise, adopted by the Major City Chiefs from the largest cities in the nation.
In 2000, Mills received the Police Executive Research Forum’s Gary P. Hayes award for his contributions to improving the quality of police service nationally.
Mills has published articles on the National Criminal Intelligence Enterprise, police leadership, problem solving and police ethics in Problem Solving Quarterly, Law Enforcement News and several National Institute of Justice publications.
He has lectured at conferences and has provided training to several police departments, including agencies in Washington, D.C., Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Columbia, Mexico, Brazil and New Zealand.
Mills said Santa Cruz’s beach community is similar to the southern California town where he raised his three daughters.
“Why would one not want to be in Santa Cruz?” he said. “It’s an amazing community.”
Mills’ swearing-in ceremony will take place at the Santa Cruz City Hall Courtyard on Aug. 7 at 4 p.m. The public is invited.
