SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl announced his resignation after 7 years of serving as leader of the department Wednesday.
Meidl told KREM 2 change and new perspectives can be healthy for a police department. Throughout his time as chief, Meidl says he's let the entire department guide his decisions.
"And they said, 'We believe our values. what we strive for on every call should be professionalism, integrity, and compassion,'" Meidl said. "So, those became the values of the Spokane Police Department. And I get to say, those aren't my values that I came up with. Those are the values the entire agency came up with."
He's listened to officers, even when he didn't agree with them.
"I'm not a fan of beards in uniform," Meidl said. "I thought the majority of the department wasn't a fan of beards in uniform either. So, I said, let's ask the department. So what we did was we did a six month trial period where we allowed officers to have beards. We were looking for input from the community looking for input from other officers as well. And at the end of that pilot program, we asked the Department Well, what do you guys think? And to my chagrin, overwhelmingly, they said we liked them."
Spokane, for the most part, is a pro-law enforcement community, and Meidl says that support is one of the department's best recruiting tools. But, others have been much more critical of Meidl and his officers.
"We have to acknowledge that there are some people that, no matter what we do, they're just not going to be happy with law enforcement," Meidl said. "One of the things I tell all of our new supervisors, and I interview all of our new supervisors as well, be authentic, don't try to be something you're not, unless you're a jerk. And if you're a jerk, don't be authentic work on not being a jerk.
While Meidl is leaving SPD, his wife Tracy will stay on the force as a police captain.
"I need somebody to pay my golf fees," Meidl joked. "So, I told her she will be working for a while."
As for Meidl, he's not sure what's next.
"I drive by Whitworth quite often in the summer and I see the guy out there mowing the lawn. And it sounds crazy, but I'm like, 'that looks like that's a pretty good job right there. Beautiful day. Sunny. You feel productive. At the end of the day, you look back said 'I mowed that field'. So, there's the full spectrum, and I can't tell you what it will be. The Lord only knows."
Watch Meidl's extended interview with KREM 2 below:
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