Murrieta Police Celebrate 20 Years as Department

The sentiment floating around the this week is something akin to: "You've come a long way, baby."

The Department is celebrating its 20th anniversary; the switch was flipped at 10 p.m. July 31, 1992, and on Aug. 1 of that year, the Police Department marked its first full day of service.

So for one year, sworn officers—from Chief Mike Baray to the newest hire—will wear their 20th anniversary badges; then they will put them away to be stored with other memories.

And memories were what were shared on the eve of their anniversary as the first chief, Larry Dean, recollected what it was like to start the Department from scratch.

Dean was hired from a pool of candidates, and relocated to Murrieta in February 1992 from Morgan Hill in Northern California where he served as police chief.

"We had a little ceremony, we threw a switch," Dean said, recalling the first night of operations.

It wasn't that easy, however. Dean and his first employee, Lt. Rick McIntire, were first tasked with building the force. Dean said there must have been at least 500 applicants.

"What we looked for in our officers was "community-oriented" even though that buzz word hadn't even been created yet. We made enemies with a lot of the neighboring police departments because we stole their officers," Dean said.

The badges those officers turned in when they came to Murrieta adorn a wall in the reception area of the Police Department—the badges that once belonged to officers such as Steve Howerton, the first to be hired by Murrieta. Howerton retired in 2003, but still works for the Department as a part-time hourly employee.

"We had to work three 12-hour shifts back then, and a mandatory four hours of overtime to cover the city," Howerton said. "All of the sudden there were cops driving down the street constantly—the citizens weren't accustomed to that."

Howerton, along with Capt. Dennis Vrooman, also a first hire for the Department 20 years ago, still recall their first arrests.

Vrooman made his first within 10 minutes of the "flipping of the switch" that first night. It was a suspect who drove a low-rider truck who he had been watching during the three weeks leading up to the official launch of the Department, he said. The suspect was arrested on possession of marijuana and methamphetamine, he said.

The Push for a Force

When the city of Murrieta incorporated on July 1, 1991, three of the first five city council members were in public safety. There were a California Highway Patrol officer and two Murrieta firemen, which led to a push for improved public safety in the newly-formed city.

The entire southwest Riverside County area was being patrolled by the Sheriff's Department, out of the Elsinore station.

Fiscal comparisons were made between contracting out for services or operating Murrieta's own. In the end, the renegade spirit of Murrieta won out.

"That was the mandate of the city council—that we start a police department," Dean said. "I think they said 'how much do you need?' I said '$4 million' and they said 'you have $ 2 million' and we did it—bare bones. We scrambled, we improvised."

Influences of that first city council were seen in the original police badge, which had a seven-point California Highway Patrol star. A preceding police chief changed it to its present-day "Gem of the Valley" logo.

Growing Pains

The original force launched with 34 employees: 18 officers, one chief, five sergeants, one lieutenant, eight dispatchers and one secretary. There were eight patrol cars. Today, sworn officers number 86, including the police chief.

Its facility was also much different. The first police station was situated next door to the existing Murrieta fire Station No. 2 at the intersection of California Oaks Road and Hancock Avenue. It was a 5,000-square-foot modular building meant to last for three years; the Police Department wound up occupying it for 10 years until moving to its current facility near City Hall in 2002.

They took pay cuts that first year, too, at a rate of 5 percent, while the city waited for expected revenue from its expanding housing market.

Passing the Baton

One of Chief Dean's first hires was Baray, an officer from Long Beach who became Murrieta's first detective. These days, Baray is serving as the fifth chief of the department.

Between Dean and Baray, there were chiefs Doug Millmore, Dan Higginbotham and Mark Wright.

Things have come full circle.

"It really is a source of pride, to know that Mike (Baray), Dennis (Vrooman) and Sean (Hadden), who I hired as police officers are the captains and Mike has become the chief."

Job Unfinished

The Department's only two unsolved homicides crop up in conversation at times. In 1994, the Department experienced its first homicide when Henry Arroyo—believed to have drug ties—was found killed in his home on Blackthorne. That and another homicide during the 90s remain the only two unsolved.

Despite that, Chief Baray said he is proud of the almost instantaneous reduction in crimes such as auto theft and residential burglaries once the Department launched 20 years ago.

"Our auto thefts were more than 30 a month; now we are at 14 a month and our population has quadrupled," Baray said. " And our residential burglaries, within our first three months we cut those in half, just from being aggressive and being out there."

Once the city hit 100,000 population, Baray said the statistics proved that when compared to other U.S. cities of comparable size. For the last several years, the Department in the nation for cities with a population between 100,000 and 500,000.

 The Department continues to be a sought-after place to work, he said.

"We operate pretty much the same as when we started: we try to hire on character. We have such a good reputation that when we have a opening we have a ton of good applicants apply," Baray said.

Applicants such as Lt. Tony Conrad, who came to the Department 10 years ago from the San Diego Police Department. Conrad now oversees the Detective Bureau as well as works with the media.

"...Here we are constantly in competition; we have to the best all the time, and that is always discussed at every level all the time," Conrad said.