Metz says Aurora police chief job a challenge he relishes

AURORA | After 30 years with Seattle police, and the last 13 as one of the department’s assistant chiefs, Nick Metz is pretty comfortable in his current role.

But Metz, who was tapped this week to be Aurora’s new police chief, said leading a department has long been his goal.

“The easy thing would be to just stay doing what I am doing,” Metz said in a phone interview Thursday from his office in Seattle. “But it has been a goal of mine to be a chief and to lead my own agency, and frankly I am ready for that challenge.”

Aurora City Manager Skip Noe named Metz the city’s new police chief on Thursday. The city council is expected to vote on Metz’s appointment at a meeting in early February.

Metz, 52, started with Seattle PD in 1983 and worked a variety of assignments — including patrol, undercover narcotics and internal investigations — as he steadily rose through the ranks. He was promoted to assistant chief in 2001, a job where he now oversees the patrol operations bureau.

Noe said Metz is an ideal fit to lead the department.

“I believe that Nick Metz is the right person with the right skills to lead the Aurora Police Department.  His extensive experience leading a large organization, serving a complex and diverse community, makes him a unique fit for the Aurora of today and the future,” Noe said in a statement Thursday.

According to the statement announcing Metz’s hiring, he will be Aurora’s first black police chief. In Seattle, Metz manages more than 700 employees and a budget of more than $100 million.

In Aurora, his annual salary will be $163,500 plus benefits.

City officials launched a nationwide search for a new chief in May after Dan Oates left to become chief in Miami Beach, Florida. In December, with the help of a search firm hired to help find a new chief, city officials narrowed the field from 34 candidates to four: Metz; longtime Aurora police commander and Commerce City Deputy Chief Fran Gomez; San Antonio Assistant Chief Jose Bañales and Peoria, Arizona. Chief Roy Minter, another longtime APD veteran. Minter pulled his name from the running last week.

Mayor Steve Hogan said Metz’s time in a big and diverse city such as Seattle means he is well positioned for the challenges of a growing and diverse city like Aurora.

“We are not going to become less diverse, we are going to become more diverse,” he said.

Hogan said that Metz working his way through the ranks of the Seattle PD is important, especially when it comes to connecting with officers who don’t know him very well yet.

“He has not been somebody who kind of skipped some of the important pieces on the way because he happened to be a shooting star or whatever,” said Hogan.

While Metz will be new to APD’s culture, Hogan said the fact that he is well versed in so many aspects of policing will make it easier for him to integrate into the department.

“Our officers want to know we are hiring someone who has done the same things they have,” he said.

Detective Ron Smith, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, said that even as a high-ranking police official, Metz remained approachable for officers up and down the ranks.

“I think the rank and file are really going to like him,” he said.

Seattle officers regularly get emails from Metz about officer safety issues, Smith said. Sometimes, the emails were sparked by a high-profile incident, like the slayings of five Seattle-area officers in 2009 or the ambush killings of two New York City officers late last year. Other times, Smith said Metz would just send the email to remind police officers to stay safe.

“He consistently emphasized: Always have a plan, always keep your eyes open,” he said.

Metz’s tenure in Seattle hasn’t been without controversy. Last November, a Seattle PD sergeant filed a lawsuit against the city accusing Metz of giving preferential treatment to four officers who he is close friends with.

Metz was also briefly demoted in 2013 from assistant chief down to captain during an apparent feud with a former interim chief. Metz was eventually promoted back to assistant chief but was passed over for the department’s top job in early 2014.

For several years, Metz has had his eye on a chief’s position.

In addition to the Seattle job, he applied for the chief’s job in the Seattle suburb, Bellevue, Washington, last year but was passed over after city officials there opted not to choose any of the selected finalists and restart their search.

In 2006, Metz was also a finalist for the police chief job in his hometown of Minneapolis, but the job went to another finalist.

Metz said when he went into law enforcement 30 years ago, he hoped to work in Minneapolis or Saint Paul, but neither city was hiring at the time. Seattle was though, so he moved to the Northwest thinking he would work there for a few years before moving back to Minnesota.

But he instead made a new home in Seattle, raising two daughters there who are now 19 and 17.

When he starts in Aurora — probably in late February or early March — Metz said the officers can expect a chief who looks for their input when making decisions.

“I don’t believe it’s healthy to make decisions in a vacuum,” he said. “I think it’s important that you bring as many of the stakeholders in as possible.”

Metz said he also hopes to spend time with the rank and file, including ride-alongs with patrol. He said those sorts of rides, which he does in Seattle, are important because they let him see up close what officers are dealing with.

“Also, I get to see first hand how my decisions are impacting their work environment,” he said.

Those ride-alongs are more than just management research outings though. Metz said he has always loved police work, and they help him stay connected to it.

“It makes me feel like a cop again,” he said.