New Police Chief Jeri Williams to Phoenix community: 'I will be your representative'

Oxnard, California, Police Chief Jeri Williams reintroduced herself to the city of Phoenix on Thursday morning, making her first public statements since being named the city’s next top cop on Wednesday afternoon.

Standing in front of Mayor Greg Stanton, various City Council members and current Chief Joseph Yahner, Williams promised to continue the culture of transparency and community policing that had been implemented under Yahner’s watch.

Speaking before a room full of reporters and city activists at a news conference at City Hall, Williams directed her next statements to city residents:

“To the Phoenix community: Wow,” she said. “I stand before you … I will be your representative, I will represent you, I will represent us, because I think that’s what law enforcement is supposed to do.”

Williams was hired by City Manager Ed Zuercher, who also thanked Yahner for his service and highlighted the qualifications of the two runners-up for chief, Phoenix Assistant Chief Mike Kurtenbach and Assistant D.C. Chief Peter Newsham.

“The three finalists did make my job extremely difficult, but what a great problem to have,” he said.

'We really got a return on investment'

Asked about the city’s choice to hire a black female chief at a time of heightened racial tensions between police and their communities, Zuercher said that the decision was coincidental.

“It is clear that she has what it takes to be a big-city police chief,” he said. “It is irrespective of gender, ethnicity or race.”

City Council member Michael Nowakowski, chairman of the council's public-safety subcommittee, highlighted Williams’ roots in Phoenix and commended her family’s dedication to community service and ensuring the Williams children were bilingual.

“It’s a great day for the city of Phoenix,” he said. “Because we really got a return on investment.”

Phoenix administrators recalled Williams' long history with the Phoenix Police Department. Williams, who has served as the police chief in Oxnard since 2011, said her experience as an administrator in that city would serve her well in her new role, in addition to her decades of service with Phoenix.

Williams told reporters that dialogue with members of the community is the most important aspect of policing, particularly when those community members don't trust law enforcement.

New chief arrives amid national turmoil

Williams will be the first woman to lead the department. Phoenix will be the largest city to employ women as both police chief and fire chief.

The announcement comes amid a spectrum of issues facing both the Phoenix Police Department and officers nationwide. She will walk into an agency only beginning to fill hundreds of vacancies left open by a hiring freeze, a city on edge by an unidentified serial killer, and a fractured community, reeling from the recent killings of Black men in Minnesota and Louisiana and five Dallas police officers.

Williams spent 22 years rising through the ranks of the Phoenix police before becoming Oxnard's chief. She served as an assistant chief in Phoenix from 2009 to 2011, when she was responsible for more than half of the city's area and oversaw 1,000 sworn and non-sworn employees.

In Oxnard, Williams has led about 400 sworn and non-sworn employees and oversaw the management of a $50 million budget. The Phoenix Police Department has nearly 4,000 employees on its payroll, covers 500 square miles and serves 1.5 million residents.

Williams was ultimately chosen by Zuercher but was interviewed by various city and police officials, as well as community members.

Though the field of 65 applicants was narrowed to three, most city and police officials agreed the choice really came down to the two insiders.

The last outside hire for Phoenix police chief, Dallas police veteran Daniel Garcia, clashed immediately with the department’s unions. His tenure was marked by various disputes — among them firing decisions and uniform policies — but the tensions hit a boiling point in November 2014, when the unions held a “no confidence vote” for Garcia after a fired officer’s suicide.

Garcia was ultimately fired for insubordination in December 2014 after holding a blistering news conference where he unloaded on his critics, including the unions, and demanded a two-year contract. Yahner took the reins thereafter, first as interim and then as permanent chief.