Andrew Mills will be sworn in as chief of the Palm Springs Police Department at a city council meeting Thursday, 10 days after starting the position.
Andrew Mills will be sworn in at the start of the 5:30 p.m. meeting by Mayor Christy Holstege and is expected to make brief remarks.
Mills started the position on Nov. 8, succeeding Bryan Reyes, who retired in August.
Mills began his law enforcement career in 1983 as a patrol officer with the San Diego Police Department. He later served four years chief of the Eureka Police Department before becoming chief in Santa Cruz in 2017.
“The Palm Springs Police Department has a longstanding tradition of inclusive community policing and building important neighborhood and stakeholder relationships,” Mills said in a statement shortly after his selection for the position was announced.
“I am honored to be chosen to serve as the next Palm Springs police chief and I look forward to working with our officers, the community, city manager and council to continue providing an exceptional level of public safety service to the Palm Springs community.”
According to the city, Mills was an agent of change at the Santa Cruz department, moving the station toward a culture of community policing, problem solving and transparency.
He was appointed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown to serve on the Board of State and Community Corrections and also served as executive chair of the California Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Program and on the Board of the Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing.
The city council meeting can be viewed live online at palmspringsca.gov.