Mesa Police Department helicopter N507MP and pilot1884 Mesa Territorial Jail cell
The Mesa Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency in Mesa, Arizona.[2] The department employs 1,202 police officers. The department is headed by Chief Ken Cost.[3]
History
The Mesa police department has existed since 1880.[4]
In 1991, local newspapers reported on a wide-ranging sex scandal in the department. Various police officers seem to have been involved in the molestation of children and using their wives as bait to blackmail other members of the department.[5]
In 2016, a Mesa police officer, Philip Brailsford, shot Daniel Shaver five times and killed him in the hallway of a La Quinta Inn & Suites hotel in Mesa, while Shaver was on his hands and knees and following confusing and contradictory orders by the police. Brailsford was charged with second-degree murder and a lesser manslaughter charge, and found not guilty by a jury.[6] Prosecutors argued the shooting was unjustified.[7] Brailsford was reinstated in August 2018. Over a month later, he was granted retirement on medical grounds, as well as a pension of $2,500 per month.[8]
Then-Chief Ramon Batista resigned suddenly in 2019 after an attempt at reforms in the police department policies and training.[9]
A 2020 story by ABC News identified that "Mesa PD has a history of high-profile incidents involving excessive force" following the suspension of Officer Greg Clark. Assistant Chief Ed Wessing denied that problems existed in the force, while acknowledging that the public's trust was hurt.[10]
Aviation Support Unit with two fixed-wing and three rotary-wing aircraft. The unit was established in 1986 and is based at Falcon Field Airport.[12][13]
