This isn't Brian Issitt's police department. This is our police department. This is the Goodyear Police Department. We're working together to make this community the safest that it can be. It's a team effort between us and the community, and we're going to work together. I want everybody in this community to feel like, okay, this is my police department.
And welcome into the Growing Goodyear podcast from the city of Goodyear. I'm Jordan Byrd.
And I'm Tammy Vo.
And Tammy, we have a new police chief here in the city of Goodyear, and that's what this entire podcast episode is going to be about, is getting to know who is now in charge of the police department in the city of Goodyear, what his priorities are and the goals that he would like to accomplish to make Goodyear the safe city that it is.
Yes, and we want to use this opportunity to introduce him to our residents, because in Goodyear, we always say this about our residents. They are passionate, they are invested in in the city, and they really do want to know who's who's leading the law enforcement efforts and and want to know more about that person. So we thought, what a great opportunity to introduce our residents to Chief Brian Issitt.
Alright, first question what is your favorite food or type of cuisine?
Hamburger with cheese.
You're going on a vacation, mountains or the beach?
Beach, for sure.
What was your first job?
I was a barista, before it was cool.
What what's your favorite holiday and why?
Fourth of July. Because I just love the fireworks and celebrating this country.
What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Probably from my hitting coach when I was in college. He said, hit the ball at the middle. It will avoid all slumps.
And we are being joined now by Chief Brian. Issitt, the new chief of the Goodyear Police Department. Chief, Welcome.
Thanks for having me.
So far, so good?
It's been really good. I'm loving it.
Tell us for you in these very few short weeks, kind of what is your reaction to Goodyear? And you know, what kind of reaction have you received so far from the community, the officers? How is everything vibing?
The response has been awesome. I mean, the officers on the department just are super excited. I've got amazing officers all the way through deputy chiefs. I've got amazing professional staff that just want to do a great job. And so really, I think what they've been looking for is a little bit of leadership. Just getting to meet with with everybody and and provide some direction has been awesome. And then just from the community, I haven't been to a place yet where people weren't happy to meet and greet and just say hi and tell me a little bit about themselves. And a lot of that started for me when I was in preparation for the process in trying to win and earn this job. And so all of the people that I had an opportunity to meet with, I feel like they've really embraced me.
So you've been on the job here in Goodyear roughly about a month. But let's go back a little bit into your background. Where did you come from before being the police chief of the city of Goodyear, and just kind of explain your background a little bit for those who may be unfamiliar with you.
Well, how far back do you want to go? How
far back you would want to go back to the barista days?
Okay? Well, barista days. I grew up in a city called Royal Oak in Michigan. That's where I spent my childhood. Most of it was on a football or baseball field. I ended up going to college to play division one football and baseball, initially at Holy Cross, before transferring to Central Michigan University and a full scholarship for baseball. Growing up, my dad was a police officer. It was really a police family, whether it was, you know, police softball tournaments, or going to the local restaurant with my dad and his partners and squad mates. And so that was my welcome into the law enforcement family. And so when I graduated from college at Central Michigan, I went to my dad, and I was like, Hey, I think I want to do this. I want to be a police officer. He's actually the one that encouraged me to come out west. And so I ended up, in 2001 moving out here from Michigan to join the Phoenix Police Department, and then spent the next 20, almost 22 years with Phoenix, and then took a little sidetrack. I was recruited to be the Deputy Director at the Department of liquor for the state of Arizona, and here I am.
I'm just curious. Why did your dad suggest coming west to get into lawn four? Investment
a couple things. Number one, at that time in Michigan, around 2000 when I graduated from college, and while all the departments were hiring, and I put that in air quotes, hiring, there was also a hiring freeze, so they would hire you, but then they're like, Okay, well, thanks, now you can just go do a different job for the next three years, and we'll call you when we're ready. I mean, that's how it was for me, with his department, with my hometown, with the Michigan State Police. They said, Hey, go out to Phoenix for three years and come back. And I'm like, I don't think I'll be doing that. So my dad said to come west, because he had done a lot of work with his police department, with specifically Phoenix Police Department, and said they've got a great thing going out there you should go ultimately, I think it was part of his master plan, because I'm an only child, and I think he knew that was his way of getting my mom to move out to Phoenix. When he retired. It was either Phoenix or Florida, right? That's right. So I've got
a question about what age if you remember, were you when you decided I want to become a police officer?
I've got pictures of me from the age of three or four wearing my chips helmet, and I had my dad's old citation book, and I would ride around the neighborhood writing kids tickets. And so it was probably pretty, pretty early, pretty early.
No, I asked because I think it's really interesting that you would decide to go into law enforcement. Being a child the son of a police officer, surely you grew up knowing, of course, the dangers of the job. Was there any part of that that ever scared you to the point where I don't know that I want to do this as a career, you know, not sure you know your dad's gonna come home from work every night. It's interesting that you actually chose that path, and rather than, you know, sports, for example, why is that?
That's a great question. I think number one my dad, it was a different generation. They didn't really share a whole lot of what was happening at work. So to my surprise, when I finally got onto the SWAT team in Phoenix and my dad started opening up about his career with me, I was surprised to find out that he had been in multiple shootings that I had I had no idea about when I was growing up. So I think when my playing days came to an end, just having been around the law enforcement family that adopted me as at an early age, through my dad, I knew that the one thing that I was going to be missing from not playing sports anymore was that camaraderie and just Feeling like you were, you were part of something bigger, something bigger than than yourself, and I knew I still would be craving that team environment, and that was a big draw for me when I was done playing and graduating from college and ready to enter the quote, real world and start a career,
when you came to your dad and said, Hey, I'm thinking about going into law enforcement. Did he offer up any ideas of like, hey, think about this all the way through before you fully commit to something like this.
I'm not sure if I can say what he said to me on air. But I mean, honestly, he said, I'm going to kill you. He was joking, of course. But after, after we got through that together, I think he was really proud that I wanted to follow in his footsteps and become a police officer.
I understand that when you became an officer, he said something very memorable that has stuck with you over these years. What was that? Yeah,
so he gave me two words of advice, if you will. The first was he told me to respect everyone. He said, Show everybody respect. And the other thing he told me was to never do anything to tarnish the badge that I was wearing. I said, a lot of people have come before you who have worn this badge with honor and pride and integrity, and you will never do anything to bring damage to this career and to this profession. Speaking
of putting that badge on regardless of what it says on a deal over 20 years in the Phoenix Police Department, you've already touched on a little bit about some of the roles that you played within Phoenix police, but maybe expand on that a little bit from your time in Phoenix police. What all did you do for the City of Phoenix? So
I had my time in patrol, and then I moved on to become a school resource officer, and then I ended up going to our rapid deployment unit, which back then was kind of like a Fugitive Apprehension type detail. From there, I went to our SWAT team. Ended up, well, I ended up on our SWAT team twice because I missed it so much after I left the first time. But in between there, I was a detective in our homeland defense bureau. I was assigned to the Arizona counterterrorism Information Center, so. That was a really unique job and a lot of fun, but like I said, I missed the SWAT team so much. I went back for for round two, and then from there, I began my official promotional journey. So I was a sergeant, and then I promoted to lieutenant, and then I was over our advanced training, and then I promote it to Commander, and I started in the traffic Bureau, so I had our motors and vehicular crimes unit as well as our transit unit. I
mean, it sounds like a well versed background. I mean, I know a lot of officers, as they spend their time in law enforcement for decades, are going to touch various departments, but it really sounds like you have kind of had your fingerprints all over different aspects of the Phoenix Police Department.
Yeah, I tried to move around a lot and just learn the different aspects of of this profession. And I think because of that, it really has made me a well rounded leader in
your time before becoming the chief of police here in the city of Goodyear. Are there any specific calls or incidents that come to your mind as maybe some of the most memorable ones?
Well, there's definitely been a lot along the way. I think you know the most memorable one for me. I graduated the Academy right after September 11, so it was a really interesting time. My first real holiday was Thanksgiving, and I was still on the field training unit as an officer in training and going through the paces. And sure enough, right right out of the gate, there was a emergency radio call that came out of a shooting and or unknown trouble. We really had no idea what's happening, and we responded to that house where the call originated from, and there was a mom there that was she just was covered in blood and screaming and pointing inside her house. And my FTO and I went inside the house, and there had been what ultimately was a murder suicide where the father had killed his son. So my job for the next eight hours was to keep the mom out of that room and to console her while we waited for the detectives to respond. And so that really had a significant impact on my career Early on, everybody talks about when they're in the police academy, wanting to help people, and on that Thanksgiving afternoon, into the evening, I was living it and understanding, I think, at that moment, that what I had just signed up for, it wasn't just, You know, traffic stops and chasing after bad guys. It was also taking that time to be with that mom and showing her empathy while she was going through arguably the absolute worst day of her life.
And I can't imagine you go through something like that in your role, and it doesn't change you in some way, like, how do you come back the next day, the start of the next shift? I might have to do this again today.
Yeah, hard. You know, it was, and back then, things were a lot different. I think now we do a much, much better job in this profession of dealing with their mental health, and we are making sure that we're holistically taking care of that officer so that they can come back the next day. For me, it was I got a pat on the back and see you tomorrow, and that was that. So, as I mentioned before, my dad's generation, you know, they really didn't talk about any of the things that happened at work while they were at home. For me, it's always more freeing to be able to talk about the things that I experienced at work at home. So I actually ended up going to that little boy's funeral that was for me so that I could get healing from that. Let's
turn the attention now back to the city of Goodyear. Now, because you've been on the job roughly about a month. Why Goodyear? Why initially did you want this job? Why did you apply for it? What was it about Goodyear, and that Goodyear police department that made you want to be a part of it?
So that's a great question. And I think, you know, go back to the testing process that I had for this position, thinking the six hours of interviews that I had which I didn't know I could talk that long, but I did, this will be a little bit shorter than that. So that question came up in every panel, and you know, the way that I answered that question is, I think the better question is, why not? Goodyear, this is an amazing community. It feels like home. There's great people that work in the city. The police department is filled with just awesome people. The police department itself has a great reputation across the state as being a leader in law enforcement. And so that was the question. Question that I posed back, why not? This is a place that, for me, is exciting. The future growth of this city is only going to lead to more innovation, especially in the law enforcement capacity and and how do we protect the citizens of this this city as we continue to grow and expand? So this position was a dream come true.
I'm glad you mentioned the growth of the city. You know, being in the ninth fastest growing city in the nation, people are moving here all the time. And a lot of questions we get from residents, especially on social media, they will ask, you know, how can we possibly keep crime down and keep up with this growth at the same time, how is the city going to do that as you look forward to the growth of Goodyear and keeping people safe. How do you get there? As
the city continues to grow, public safety has to keep up. That's my job now. Is to advocate for our department and just to make sure that from a strategic perspective, we're looking at that growth, we're making sure that we have officers in the right areas, that we're putting substations in the right spots, that organizationally, we are making sure that we have the right amount of staffing for whether it's the patrol division or whether It's different specialties. Obviously, whenever somebody calls 911, they expect somebody in a uniform and a badge to show up and solve whatever problem they're facing at that very moment in time. So that's obviously really important, because that's one of the main functions of law enforcement. But then what happens after who's making sure that we're getting justice for the victims. That's where the detectives come in, traffic and speed. I think that's not just here in Goodyear, that's all across the valley. How do we handle that? Well, we obviously need more staffing within our traffic unit so that we can go out and make sure that we are enforcing traffic laws and just pinpoint it, because, you know, if we're just out randomly patrolling, we're going to end up getting random results. We want to be strategic in what we're doing and how we're doing it, and we're doing it in the way that makes sense. So
some of the things you've already mentioned about, you know, kind of looking after the officer as a person, and not just as a nameless badge or something like that, and then tapping into what community members want or need, or what they're expecting from their police agency. So I know this might be a loaded question or a tough one, especially so early in your time here in the city of Goodyear, but what are your top priorities as the police chief for Goodyear police, my
main priority in the short term is just bring stability to the department. Over the last eight months, there's been four different chiefs. Obviously, Chief Rodriguez was here for 26 years and left a great legacy. Then there was a couple interim chiefs before I hire so just bringing that stability and providing direction to the department, and I would say that we're already on that path. I've met with my executive team, I've given expectations, and one of the things that I did in giving those expectations to my executive staff, I also shared those expectations with the entire police department. One of the things that is really important for me as a leader is telegraphing whatever it is that I'm going to do for a couple reasons. One, because I want everybody to know the direction that we're going. It shouldn't be a surprise for anybody in the police department, whether it's sworn staff or whether it's the professional staff, everybody should know the direction that we're going. And two, everybody should know the why people might not always agree with the direction that I'm choosing to go, but at the end of the day, they're not going to be surprised, and they will understand the why. And so that's a big part of bringing the stability. The other priority, which you mentioned, is really, honestly meeting the needs of the community. This isn't Brian. Is its police department. This is our police department. This is the Goodyear Police Department. And so if there's any one thing that that I have learned over the course of time, this whole thing that we like to call public safety, it's a team sport, it's one thing to say, Okay, well, it's a Goodyear Police Department. And quote, we're going to keep you safe. You know, that's not exactly accurate. We're working together to make this community the safest that it can be. There is far more community members out there that we need to tell us what's happening out there. We're not going to know if something's happening unless, number one, we see it or unless somebody tells us so it's. Team effort between us and the community and we're going to work together. I want everybody in this community to feel like, okay, this is my police department, and then the last priority, which I already talked talked about, is just preparing strategically for the future and the impending growth that's happening in the city. How
excited are you to be part of a city that is growing so quickly? I know it does. Definitely comes with challenges in terms of resources with policing, but what about just like the excitement that comes with being in just a really fast growing city? I
love it. I'm so excited to be here. I think that what I said before, it is absolutely 1,000% of the truth. This is a dream for me, and just to be part of this already, and just the short amount of time, just the support that I've received from our city manager to Mayor, pizzillo and council, and then just the community members that that I've been fortunate enough to meet the support is is outrageous. It has been so exciting and couldn't be more happy to be here. If you
don't mind, give us a little glimpse into your family life. Tell us about your family.
So we just had an emotional event, because we just dropped our oldest daughter off at College this past weekend. There may have been allergies. It's a little dusty. There were some allergies that were happening in Boston. I've been married to autumn my wife for coming up on 23 years we we actually met at Central Michigan University. So we have four kids, and Eva, who we just dropped off, is our oldest. She'll be playing Division one college softball at Merrimack. Then we've got Johnny, he's a junior, he's playing football and baseball at Horizon High School. And Libby is our freshman. She'll be playing soccer at Horizon, but she's also on the national team for Phoenix Rising. And so then we've got Brian. And Brian plays baseball and soccer and football, whatever else he can get his hands on. He's our baby, and so he's he's constantly smiling. He's just happy. So between
your new position with Goodyear and shuttling kids to and from practices and games, do you have any downtime for you personally, not
really. We live by a matrix, so it's a lot of work, but totally worth it.
You know, it's so interesting. And you've already touched on this a few times, about how policing has changed. Being an officer, what it's like today, is different than what it was 2025, years ago, and that was different than you know, going back to when your father was in law enforcement, so beyond what you've already talked about, how is that different now being a police officer in today's day and age, as opposed to when you first started working in law enforcement,
it's funny, because when I got on to the job, my dad was like, oh, policing so much different now than it was, you know, when I started, and you know now that I'm almost two decades in, I'm like, wow, policing so much different than it was when I started, but it is, and I think law enforcement as a whole has has really grown for the better in a lot of ways, two different ways, specifically that law enforcement has really grown since I began is number one in technology. There's just the advancements in technology, whether it's with less lethal weapons like taser, whether it's the body worn cameras, whether it's looking at the future of real time crime centers and the technology to be able to share, you know, between jurisdictions. So the growth and technology, you know, using social media, and how we reach our community that way, and how our community can reach us the different platforms. So I would say that that's one aspect. The other aspect, I would say, is the transparency. There is nothing that happens out on the street that we aren't transparent about, whether that's the body worn cameras and being able to make sure our officers are doing the right things while they're out there all the time, it's really the sharing of information with the community when we have critical incidents, so that we're not just saying, well, there was a critical incident. You'll never know what happened. We're saying, No, this critical incident happened, and here's the information. We're sharing it with you because we want to be accountable to our community. I talked earlier about my officers and my professional staff understanding the why behind the decisions that I'm making. Here's the why of this situation that happened, and here you go. Community members take a look, and you can make your own decision on what happened. But we're going to provide that information with you. What
would be just a message that you would like to send direct to the residents of Goodyear about now that you're the chief of Goodyear police, that you would just like residents to know about your tenure now here in Goodyear, the
thing that I'd like just to reiterate is that we're in this together public safety here in Goodyear, it's not just the police department or the fire department, it's all of us, community members, included, working together to make sure that we're creating the safest community in the state of Arizona. Well,
chief, before we go, you have already talked about during this interview, the partnership that there is between the Goodyear Police Department and the residents here in Goodyear. So we recorded some questions from the community members here in Goodyear that they have about the work the Goodyear Police Department is doing, and just some of their questions about policing in general.
Yeah, I guess something I'm noticing a lot is homelessness in the city, especially off of the i 10 area. I'm curious to know what type of plan is in place to help these individuals get off the street, or is there other plans that include removing them to other locations?
So we actually have a homeless outreach team. They work very diligently to connect with any individual that's experiencing homelessness, and we always start with a services first approach. If somebody is experiencing homelessness, they're getting the help that they need, and so a big portion of that is us partnering with the Phoenix rescue mission. So they obviously have a broader reach for helping the homeless people than we do as a police department. So they're able to link them in with services and get them places to stay if that's what they need. So we've actually had pretty good success in that thus far, our community, Goodyear, relatively, has has a low number of homeless population. I think the last count, we were around 30 people that we had identified, and a lot of them already have been placed into different services through the Phoenix rescue mission and
for drivers who you know, especially coming on and off I 10, we see a lot of panhandlers on the side, not just in Goodyear, but I mean, it's, it's in a lot of other cities as well. What is your recommendation to drivers who maybe want to give some money or cash to panhandlers? What's the best thing to do?
So I would recommend, instead of giving money directly to the panhandlers, find a different avenue, whether that's the Phoenix rescue mission or another nonprofit organization that works specifically with the homeless population. That way you know that the money that you're giving is actually being used for the intended purpose. I
noticed in my neighborhood that there's a lot of people speeding through and just wondering what things are being done to curb that.
So we have an amazing traffic team. Just some stats that I'd like to share. So between January 1 and August 24 this year, we've already conducted 10,000 traffic stops. Wow. That's resulted in over 6500 citations for various violations, specifically, 99 for red light running over 1000 for speeding, and 434 for using using the cell phone while driving so crazy they're busy. You guys are out there. They're out there and and they're doing great work. I would only say because I mentioned earlier, if you have something in your neighborhood that you're experiencing, that you're seeing, we have a traffic email, and that is G why traffic at Goodyear, az.gov, and so anybody from the public can submit an email to that email address, and that will help us to pinpoint our enforcement efforts better.
Why are police sirens are blue and red?
if you didn't understand that, why are police sirens blue and red?
That's a great question. So it's funny, because, you know, just dropping off my daughter in Boston. So in Massachusetts, all of the police vehicles, they're just Lou with the fire, they're just red. So interesting. Yeah, here in Arizona, by statute, any emergency vehicle has to have red and blue lights. So it's just a it is the way for everybody to know that an emergency vehicle is either coming or behind them. Wow,
that's actually great there. Yeah. Well, chief, thank you so much for taking the time and joining us here on the growing Goodyear podcast. We are so excited about your tenure here with the Goodyear Police Department, and we look forward to many years ahead under your leadership for Goodyear police
Awesome. Thank you so much for having me
well Tammy, that was so enjoyable to sit and have that conversation with Chief and really get to know him as a person. You you heard a little bit about his family, his background, where he comes from, and what really stood out to me is that this is kind of in his blood, with his dad and his dad being in law enforcement, Cool story, it really is, and it just really is a guy who seems down to earth and wants to serve the Goodyear community, and
hearing some of the stories he tells us about his most memorable days as an officer, wow, like that really strikes me, because those are the moments that really can shape you as an individual, and for him, just to hear that experience and how it must have an impact on his role today as a police chief, being able to lean on those experiences as he leads his force of officers and to be able to truly understand and connect with them as to what they're going through on a day to day basis.
Well, yeah, and so many times with police and law enforcement, the phrase to protect and serve is kind of the catch all for law enforcement, right? And a lot of times, people focus on the Protect, but it's that service aspect of it. And I just thought it was so interesting to hear chief talk about how it's team it's a team work. It's a team effort between law enforcement, Goodyear Police Department, but also the residents here in the city of Goodyear, because as chief mentioned, either they see something happen in front of their very eyes, or they need the community. They need residents to help partner with them and let them know about what's happening here in their community. And I, I mean, it's so simplistic, when you think about it, you're like, Yeah, of course, that's the way. But it's kind of rare sometimes to hear a Chief of Police speak about, hey, we need the community as well. This is we're in this altogether. We
are in this altogether. Jordan, and I love that he said that, and we see that in many ways, of course, through our community, as they tell us the stories about what's important to them, but those stories are also reflected in what the police department is choosing to also share with the public. I want to make one quick pitch for the Goodyear Police Department social media pages where they you know, we talk about transparency with the chief, and that is so true. As you know, the the officers who are running those social media pages on there have a mission, which is to share with our residents what they are doing every day to keep the public safe. So if you haven't yet, make sure you check out their pages
well, and not just the informational stuff, but also there's some cool things on that social media page where you might get little glimpses of things that go on at the police station that you may not normally get to see. So yeah, highly recommend. And they've got a pretty good, decent sense of humor as well. Over there on Goodyear Facebook,
I enjoy, yeah, well, Tammy,
thank you so much, and thank you all for listening to this episode of the growing Goodyear podcast. We hope you enjoyed meeting the new police chief here in the city of Goodyear, and remember, it's always a great time to be in Goodyear.
That concludes this episode of Growing Goodyear, make sure to leave us a review and subscribe on your favorite streaming or podcast player app. If you have any questions or comments, email us at communications at Goodyear, az.gov and don't forget to follow us on the city of Goodyear's social media pages. You.
