Longtime San Diego Officer Reappointed To State Corrections Board

SAN DIEGO, CA — Santa Cruz police Chief Andrew Mills, who spent 30 years climbing the ranks of the San Diego Police Department, was reappointed to the California Board of State and Community Corrections this week.

He was first tapped to join the board in 2018 under then-Gov. Jerry Brown. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his reappointment Monday. Mills does not receive pay for his role on the Board of State and Community Corrections and his appointment is subject to confirmation in the California State Senate.

Mills, 64, resides in the Northern California beach town of Santa Cruz, where he's been the top cop since 2017.

Since 2012, the state board has sought to provide leadership for criminal justice systems and oversight for detention facilities, among other matters.

Mills said Wednesday in a written statement that he was honored to be reappointed and that the board's work "is vital in supporting those currently in incarcerated and under supervision by providing the oversight and resources needed to formerly incarcerated individuals transition effectively back into our communities."

Mills has spent 38 years in law enforcement and previously served as police chief in Eureka,

He received the Police Executive Research Forum Gary P. Hayes award in 2000 for his efforts to improve policing nationwide, according to his bio on the board's website. A patrol team he managed won the Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing while three others were finalists under his leadership.

Mills "has strived to become a community-centric and effective crime fighter," according to his bio. "He compassionately confronts some of society’s most challenging problem[s] openly and transparently.

Mills, who is registered to vote without party preference, said in a June 2020 blog post addressing calls to reduce police funding that he believed "Santa Cruz is one of the most progressive police agencies in the state."

Both Newsom and Brown have been praised by the left and criticized by the right for criminal justice reform efforts. California legislators have increasingly pushed for measures cracking down on police use of force.

"On our own, [the Santa Cruz Police Department] decided to strengthen the criteria for the use of force," Mills said in his blog. "We proactively and aggressively instituted de-escalation and critical incident training, trained our officers to guard against bias policing, eliminated the use of the chokehold, and are now seeking to eliminate predictive policing and face recognition technology. We are a department who reached out to the black community immediately to learn how we can change and become better."