Finalists for MWPD chief say they are ready to take on challenges

Weatherford Democrat
By Glenn Evans gevans@weatherforddemocrat.com
December 23, 2022

MINERAL WELLS — Finalists to lead the Mineral Wells Police Department say they are poised to tackle recruiting and retention challenges, after two days of interviews earlier this week.

The five candidates were narrowed from a field of 29 applicants.

Each hopes to succeed Chief Dean Sullivan, who was named city manager last spring. Each hails from this region — Fort Worth, White Settlement, Amarillo and Mineral Wells.

“All of them had varied experience,” Mayor Pro Tem Doyle Light said.”I was very, very pleasantly pleased that we had five good, quality candidates. All of the outside candidates come from departments that are larger than ours, but the divisions they run within those larger departments had budget numbers similar to our department.”

The city’s police force faces challenges that its Police Officers Association laid at the city council’s feet this past fall — 12-hour shifts, the loss of 10 officers in one year and, strategically, a headquarters that separates patrol, administration and dispatch in two unattached buildings.

“In talking to some of the officers, facilities seem to be an issue,” Tyson Cheek, a divisional commander on the Fort Worth force, said. “Were I to get the job, that would be a priority. … They (also) have challenges with hiring and people staying just like a lot of other places.”

Cheek has more than three decades on the Cowtown force with stints in on-scene command, tactical intelligence, traffic command and communications. He and his wife live in Millsap, so he said he knows the city he hopes to protect.

“We love Mineral Wells,” he said. “We shop there, we eat there. We recreate there.”

Cheek also had been planning to retire from Fort Worth and said the Mineral Wells job appealed when he heard it was open. He also expects to earn a master’s degree in public administration by the end of 2023, he said.

“I feel like my qualifications and my education and experience — it’s put me in position to qualify for that position,” he said. “And I can help the Mineral Wells Police Department.”

Another Fort Worth police officer, Mike Williams now works as the department’s narcotics section commander. He has held other leadership posts since joining up as an officer in 1998. Williams said he was impressed by the questions put to him during interviews with two panels of city hall and economic development officials, business owners, school personnel, members of the officers association and other residents.

“The questions asked had a certain feeling of drilling down to the nexus of the issues that they would want for their police chief,” Williams said, after saying the force’s challenges are not insurmountable.

“We just have to be patient,” he said. “The city of Mineral Wells has been through a lot. Everybody has the heart and the goal of getting things back on track. Everybody’s on the same page. So, in terms of the police issues, we are not absent, we are not exempt from the challenges that are facing the city.”

The holder of a master’s degree in criminology and criminal justice, Williams said he is looking for a long-term role as chief of a town he found very welcoming.

“You’re not a number,” he said. “So, that’s what I like about Mineral Wells — you have such a well-known community. I actually think you can get things done in a small community. … When I walk through the door (as chief), I’m not looking to bounce around. I don’t want to be moving around a lot, but I do enjoy and embrace the opportunity to be the administrator for the Mineral Wells Police Department.”

Detective Cristal Menchaca, president of the Police Officers Association, was among those interviewing the candidates.

“I think a few of them would be great,” she said. “I thought some of them were real good. I asked how they would get a feel for everybody before making any major decisions.”

Lt. Darby Thomas, the only in-house finalist, said he plans to launch a first-year plan if hired, using input from officers.

“Some of these guys are going to be running the department,” he said. “I believe in training up.”

The Ranger native plans to reorganize personnel, “ …to get some good people in key positions.”

Thomas has served 17 years on the force. He now is support services lieutenant but has moved up from patrol officer to detective, patrol sergeant and sergeant over the Criminal Investigative Division.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration of criminal justice and has grown more familiar with the department’s finances since becoming lieutenant.

“My whole law enforcement career has been here,” Thomas said. “We’re really invested in the community. … I’ve experienced this growth we’re on the cusp of. We could get behind on that — that’s what the recruiting is about.”

In part toward that recruiting goal, Thomas said he has contacted Mineral Wells ISD Superintendent John Kuhn about giving the audiovisual class at the high school some lab work.

“We’re going to co-partner with them on recruitment videos,” Thomas said, after first remarking on the need for a more sensible headquarters. “That’s the biggest challenge, and it’ll still be on the front burner, trying to get a facility.”

Louis Sanchez, a captain and commander over training and personnel in Amarillo, said a strong police force is a key to encouraging the economic development activity that’s under way in the city.

“Because they are the ones that provide security,” he said. “And any company that might want to settle in the area and come to the area, that’s a major thing they look at.”

Sanchez holds a master’s degree in security studies under a Homeland Security Act designation.

“I know there’s some issues right now,” he said. “I can work on recruitment. I think that’s one thing that needs to be a priority.”

He said it was too early for him to evaluate morale on the force.

“I don’t know yet. I think the answer is in knowing the actual people themselves,” Sanchez said. “Should they offer me the job, that will be my goal there, to get to know the people and their concerns there — and get to address those concerns.”

He said he has family in Mineral Wells and appreciates the city’s niche in Texas as the so-called Northern Gateway to the Hill Country.

“It’s probably a community in one of the most beautiful areas of the state of Texas,” he said. “It’s very unique to Texas.”

Attempts to reach the fifth finalist, White Settlement Assistant Police Chief Tim Denison, were not successful.

Denison holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration, and before being named assistant chief in White Settlement two years ago, he served there as a sergeant and lieutenant.