Tucson Police Assistant Chief Ramon Batista was selected police chief of Mesa, the city manager announced Wednesday, May 24.
Batista, a native Tucsonan who grew up on the south side and was hired by TPD 31 years ago, will officially begin his new job in July, said Steven Wright, a Mesa spokesman.
Batista's pay range will be between $143,000 to $192,545, Wright said.
"The chief of police is one of the most important leadership positions in the city overseeing a department of nearly 1,200 sworn and civilian employees," said Mesa City Manager Chris Brady in a news release.
"Assistant Chief Batista was chosen because I believe he is the best fit for our community and organization at this time," said Brady, who made the selection after months of interviews and forums with police, community members, business and civic leaders, including those in Tucson.
The other finalist was Mesa interim Police Chief Michael Dvorak.
"I grew up on Tucson's south side," said Batista in an interview Wednesday morning. "My mom worked multiple jobs to send her three children to private school," said the assistant chief who attended St. John the Evangelist Catholic School and graduated from Salpointe Catholic High School.
"I love Tucson and working at TPD has taught me a lot," said Batista who climbed the ranks as a patrol officer, including working at the academy, traffic, and undercover narcotics. We are always looking to doing our jobs better and looking at other departments across the country and bringing their top programs here to see if it works. Not everything works, it all depends on the community," said Batista.
Batista said TPD was ahead of the curve when 21st Century Policing came of age, and it validated programs the department had in place and commanders are working to make better.
Batista oversees the investigative services bureau, which includes detectives, the crime lab, the evidence section and the crime scene unit. When he was promoted bureau chief in 2014, he commanded the field services bureau with oversight of the city's 235 square miles, four patrol divisions and more than 600 personnel.
He said working in Tucson's diverse community has prepared him to lead police in Mesa, which also has a nationally recognized department. Batista said, like TPD, the Mesa Police Department has its own academy and crime lab. "Mesa's elected officials are very supportive of the department and public safety. I want to take our engagement to new levels and have a dialogue and reach out to people who are not so believing or so trustful of police," said Batista.
As Mesa Police Chief Batista will lead a department of 773 sworn officers and 427 civilian employees. The department's annual budget is $176 million.
The city of Mesa will have a news conference in June to introduce Batista to the community, said Wright.
