MPD hopes for civilian investigators

Maricopa Police Chief Steve Stahl believes a new position in the department could enforce its goal to “make every contact excellent” and make local law enforcement more effective. This new hire would be a civilian investigation specialist (CIS).

The characteristics of a CIS include the ability to perform investigations for non-emergency criminal incidents such as fraud, threat, identity theft, missing persons, etc. They do not carry a gun and mainly focus on cases that do not require a sworn police officer. Stahl said the position was an important part of the police force in his prior jurisdiction of Mesa.

“We had CISs toward the end of my career there,” he said. “They proved to be very fruitful in the investigations. They took the extra time. They have been on my first list to hire for about the past three to four years. Because funding has been relatively tight, that hasn’t been the priority.”

Currently, sworn officers perform interviews and interactions for all cases, emergency or otherwise. This can become a tough balancing act for engaging with each reporting party equally. Stahl’s hypothetical for the need illustrated an officer potentially having to leave an investigation prematurely to direct traffic after a serious accident. With the use of a CIS, the interruption would not pull them away from the investigation at hand.

“We live in a bedroom community where people work in Maricopa County,” Stahl said. “The civilian investigation specialist actually calls the victim and schedules an appointment to meet with them about the crime that occurred. They investigate on the victim’s time.”

Detective Jason Flam with Mesa PD agrees with Stahl’s philosophy and finds civilian investigators to be a key factor in great customer service. Waiting times for victims are also expressed as a main concern for the department.

“A lot of times people felt victimized a second time because of the amount of time they had to wait for an officer to arrive,” Flam said. “By having civilian investigators respond to incidents, it helps keep officers freed up to respond to more serious public safety issues, where people may be in danger, such as a domestic violence incident or a robbery.”

With 40%-50% of MPD’s calls for service being delayed reports of non-emergency crimes, civilian investigation specialists are a cost-effective option for the City of Maricopa, the chief said. Not being armed with ballistic gear or a firearm, coupled with a lower salary, the position would fit in a budget that complements the growth of Maricopa. In the same vein, more sworn officers will still be recruited because of the city’s rapid growth, Stahl said. Careful spending with the taxpayer dollar has been a primary concern for MPD.

Training for civilian investigators would be done for approximately 10 weeks with department detectives as well as first responding supervisors. They will be taught how to collect evidence, interview witnesses and have access to the police records management system. For these reasons, a CIS’s background check needs to come up as clean as a sworn officer’s should.

An exact timeline for hiring a CIS remains unknown until the beginning of the fiscal year.

With authorization for two hires, Stahl emphasizes the process will be determined once they know the full impact on city revenue by COVID-19.

“It all depends on revenue projections,” Stahl said. “I think it is a very desirable position. I’m hoping there will be a ton of interested people.”