Mill Creek says police staffing nearly full; city touts training, school resource officers and new substation

Mayor Pro Tem Stephanie Vignal told the luncheon the Mill Creek Police Department is close to full staffing and credited recent training and recruitment for increased patrols and investigative capacity.

The staffing update matters because patrol presence, school resource officers and a staffed investigations unit were cited as contributing to public safety and higher solvability rates for major cases.

Vignal said the department has 29 total positions, including 23 commissioned officers and six non-commissioned staff, and that the department had one remaining vacancy expected to be filled by June. “We have 29 positions in the police department that includes 23 commissioned officers and that includes the police chief, 6 non commissioned officers,” Vignal said. She added that filling positions allowed the city to staff patrols more consistently and reinstate school resource officer assignments at both Jackson High School and Heatherwood Middle School.

Vignal noted the investigations unit was fully staffed in 2024, which she said gave detectives the time to complete more thorough follow-up and increased solvability and charging rates. She also said officer presence on main corridors has resulted in more speeding citations, which the city views as evidence of active enforcement.

Other public-safety items discussed included a new police substation in The Farm community that is staffed Tuesdays and Thursdays from noon to 3 p.m., and a temporary halt and then recovery in canine operations: she said a medical condition paused canine work but that canine Hondo and Corporal Lerma have completed narcotics-detection certification and Hondo returned to full duty.

Vignal also described the council’s 2023 creation of a legislative committee (Duque, Allison and Vignal) that meets with staff and legislators to advocate for city priorities; she thanked Senator John Lubbock for support of regional training centers that shorten officer training timelines and broaden candidate pools. The council supported condominium reform this year — House Bill 1403 — which Vignal said is intended to incentivize condominium construction and expand homeownership pathways.

City officials told attendees the department will be fully staffed within months and asked the public to continue reporting traffic and safety concerns to help shape enforcement priorities.