About Mesa PD

The Mesa Police Department (MPD) has a long history of professional service and active community engagement with the citizens of Mesa. The Department has established excellence through education in advanced policing methods, cutting edge technology, training, community partnerships, professional associations, and strategic planning. MPD endeavors to meet the needs of the evolving community while remaining mission focused on reducing crime, and creating one of the safest big cities in the United States.

MPD was established in 1883 with one officer, Marshall Wellington Richens. Since then, Mesa has grown to over 1,200 employees, with over 800 authorized sworn officers and over 500 authorized professional staff employees. Over the years, MPD evolved to meet the needs of its growing community by changing in size and organizational structure and adapting and reevaluating best practices in policing to better serve and protect its citizens.

Recent changes included implementing educational community incident briefings and concurrent use of force investigations ensuring use of force incidents are reviewed for legal policy, and a state of the art Real Time Crime Center. In 2022, MPD partnered with a non-profit organization to offer specialized services to citizens suffering a mental health crisis including crisis counseling and specialized mobile response teams. MPD continues to prioritize strong community relationships to serve the publics’ needs and interests through community events and partnerships.

MPD has been, and continues to be, an innovative organization for the community. As the population of the city grows, so too will the strategy to provide the best public safety to those people who live and work in Mesa.