Message from Chief Ken Cost

I am excited to present the Mesa Police Strategic Plan for FY2023-FY2028 to our employees and community members. Each bureau and division provided valuable input on strategies to assist us with our vision to make Mesa one of the safest cities in America. The strategic plan has overarching priorities for our organization with specific performance-based objectives and initiatives for each bureau.

The Mesa Police Department strives for excellence in crime fighting, community engagement, and public safety demonstrated through our rating as one of the safest big cities in America which we plan to continue and further improve. Our successes from the past strategic plans show the importance of targeting and planning for our future needs. Some of our successes over the last five years include the implementation of a Community Engagement Academy to help citizens understand what a day in the life of a police officer is like, the creation of a Real Time Crime Center, inclusion of an Advanced Training Unit, and an analysis-based re-organization of the beat system into zones to provide improved coverage.

Our newly formed Strategic Plan addresses critical challenges as well as opportunities for improvements for the next 5 years. One of the most critical challenges The Mesa Police Department will be addressing is recruiting and retention. Large numbers of employees will become eligible for retirement over the next five years which has created the need to prioritize the recruitment of quality employees, training and developing employees, and focusing on succession planning.

Mesa Police employees are innovative, professional, and committed to maintaining Mesa’s status as one of the safest big cities in America. We work hand in hand with Mesa residents and businesses to prioritize their needs while also striving for an amazing culture of organizational excellence.