New Peoria Police Chief Brad Dixon said the city deserves a police department that communicates openly, acts with integrity and earns the public’s trust.
A Peoria native who’s been on the force for more than 25 years, Dixon is in his first week of leading the department following his recent promotion.
“I just want to motivate the officers. The officers know what the goals are,” Dixon said during an extended session with reporters after taking his oath of office. “We always start with violence. If you commit violence in this city, we’re throwing everything we have at it. We’re also a community-based police department, so we’re going to push that.
“There’s a lot of goals we have. I have high expectations for the officers. We have fantastic officers at the department, so our base is community service, community-oriented policing, but if you choose to do violence in this city, then everybody’s coming.”
Dixon said he anticipated a smooth leadership transition in taking over from retired Chief Eric Echevarria, whom he considers a friend and mentor after serving as his assistant chief for the past five years.
He said an overall theme of dedication and commitment to Peoria will not change, but how they approach certain aspects of law enforcement “might look a little different.”
“I think that we’re possibly looking at how we structure our shifts a little different. These are all just kind of management things, how we can be more efficient, how we can have more officers on the street,” said Dixon.
“The number one complaint in the city is that I receive is traffic, but we can’t [address] that if we’ve got to handle some business first with some of the violence that’s going on. So we’ve got a lot of things going on at once. I look forward to the challenge."
In response to a recent call by East Bluff community leader Jessie McGowan for increased patrols there, Dixon said he anticipates a more focused patrol throughout the city. He said the police department will use the tools they have in an effort to be more proactive at preventing crime before it happens.
“We’ve got a lot of data that we track, a lot of metrics we track. We have to use that to guide us. But you obviously can’t predict crime, so we have to be visible,” said Dixon. “Not one officer can do it, not one supervisor can do it. It’s a team effort, so we’ve got a great department, dedicated officers, and we’re going to be visible. We’re going to be out there.”
Using technology
Dixon said he is a proponent of incorporating the newest technology into law enforcement, with the use of artificial intelligence continuing to see increased usage in police departments.
“When I started, we were writing handwritten paper reports and now the technology is out there. AI technology essentially writes the report for the police officers. We don’t have that, but the technology evolved so fast,” said Dixon.
“We haven’t delved into AI yet, but it’s coming. Drones are — they’re changing as fast as you can buy them. So there’s some technologies that we need to harness to be more efficient, but they’re expensive. So we need to see what the best technology that’s going to work for us is.”
Asked if he believed the fact City Manager Patrick Urich promoted him to chief instead of conducting a broad search suggested a confidence in his ability and the current direction of the police department, Dixon said his new role is a huge responsibility.
“They put a lot of trust in me. I don’t take that for granted,” said Dixon. “I’m just thankful that they had the confidence in me to look within the department. I would have supported anybody they brought in; you know, I’m here for the city.
“I’m from here; I’m born and raised here. So at the end of the day, I have the city’s best interest in mind.”
