Everett Police Chief Paul Strong appeared at the City Council meeting Monday night to talk about his first two months in office.
Strong became chief on July 1, 2024, succeeding Steve Mazzie.
City Councilor Peter Pietrantonio had requested the update on “how the first couple of months have gone, and if Strong has implemented any new policies under his direction.”
City Council President Robert Van Campen officially welcomed Strong to the meeting in the Council Chambers.
Following is a summary of some of the topics that Chief Strong addressed in his remarks and in response to questions from city councilors:
Changes since taking office
Pietrantonio opened the discussion by asking about changes that have taken place in the Everett Police Department.
“We’re in the certification stage [of the accreditation process],” said Strong. “The benefits after certification and accreditation would give our agency practical risk management tools for preventing and reducing loss in professional liability claims. This also promotes accountability among agency personnel and provides a means of independent evaluation of agency operation for quality assurance. It improves the delivery of law enforcement services to the community. We’re about eight to ten months away from being certified.”
Traffic Enforcement
Strong said the department has been increasing its traffic enforcement the past three months.
“They have seized seven loaded firearms in the last three months, [and] obviously all suspects have been arrested and charged and we’re awaiting court dates for trial.”
New police vehicles
The department will be bolstered by the addition of “two new, front-line vehicles for the Patrol Division,” according to Strong.
“We’re also getting three admin cars and one parking car – they’re all going to be hybrid cars,” Strong said. “We like to use the hybrid cars because you get a lot more gas mileage.”
New firearms
Strong said the department will be trading in its 10-year-old 45-caliber firearms for new 9 mm firearms.
“We’ve had the 45-calibers for ten years, so it was time that we started getting some new firearms,” said Strong.
Directed patrols
The chief said directed patrols have been increased in city parks.
“We’ve had well over 500 directed patrols just in the parks,” Strong told the Council. “I believe that’s probably the reason why we’ve had a quiet summer.”
Special operations unit
Strong indicated that the regional SWAT team (special weapons and tactics) has added five officers to the team after it had decreased by that number.
School resource officers
Strong has added a new school resource officer (SRO), Sgt. [Kenneth] Kelley, to Everett High School, bringing the total number of SROs to five.
“He’s been a great addition,” said Strong. “We have established a very good working and close relationship with the School Department.”
Implementation of E-Alerts
“Basically, if a resident wants to download the app, E-Alerts – and you don’t want to call, you can take a picture and send it to our dispatch center. You can text it, video it, or take a picture. There is no tracking of your phone,” said Strong.
Animal control officer
Councilor Stephanie Martins said she “has been hearing some great feedback as far as finally calling the animal control officer when there is an animal-related emergency.”
“I love the efforts to increase transparency with the addition of the arrest logs, all the services, and what type of calls the police is getting and type of work that your guys have been doing around the clock,” added Martins, who requested that the chief continue to work on improving the condition of the police station.
Praising the Progress
Councilor-at-Large Katy Rogers told Chief Strong said that she “appreciates the progress that we have seen under your leadership thus far.”
“I’ve seen a lot of improvements on the communication [through] Facebook,” said Rogers. “There’s been a few things that have happened recently, and you’ve been very diligent about having everybody updated on those issues.”
Rogers echoed Martins’ remarks about the excellent work of the department’s animal control division.
“We appreciate your work, and it has not gone unnoticed,” concluded Rogers.
Police Promotions Councilor-at-Large Stephanie Smith asked if there were any new promotions coming under his new administration. “There are some promotions that will be coming in the future,” responded Strong. “I do have a management plan, and I’m hoping to get in implemented within a month or so.” “Thank you for your service and for all the work that the police officers do, especially the SROs. I know they’re really busy,” said Smith.