Brian Issitt and Vicki Gillis
Jenna Ridgeway
At our meeting on Feb. 6, four members of Goodyear City Counsel were present: Laura Kino, Benita Beckles, Trey Terry, and Vicki Gillis. Eric Hays from Turning Point USA also was available for questions.
For the evening’s presentation, two representatives of the City of Goodyear offered their vision for safety and crime prevention. This is especially important as Goodyear has become the 9th fastest growing city in the nation.
Vicki Gillis was elected to the Goodyear City Council in 2022. She was moved by the 9/11 tragedy to become more community service minded and politically involved. She and the Seattle Benevolent Society raised funds for the FDNY widows and children. After becoming familiar with the needs of the 9/11 firefighters, Vicki worked to help pass the James Zadroga Bill which assisted first responders to keep the insurance they needed from 9/11 which they were at risk of losing. Vicki received many awards for her community service including arranging SWAT for teams in Arizona to get better training, equipment and safety measures. She recently was selected to be a member of the National League for Crime Prevention.
Her focus recently has been helping with the homeless situation, cleaning up the Bullard wash and advocating support for the police and fire department to keep the streets of Goodyear safe from drugs.
In August 2024, Brian Issitt was hired as the Chief of Police for the Goodyear Police Department. He holds two master’s degrees in justice and national security studies and is a proud graduate of the FBI national academy, session 27. He spent most of his 22-year career assigned to Phoenix’s SWAT team as well as to the Homeland Defense Bureau as a Detective and Sergeant for the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center.
Brian is a second generation policeman with 22 years’ experience with the Phoenix police department. He was drafted in high school by baseball’s Houston Astros but chose another path to follow in his father’s footsteps. Becoming a patrol officer and then school resource officer before his SWAT assignments allowed him a variety of experiences that would enable him to handle running a police department the size of Goodyear.
Brian indicated that the changes he plans to enforce include outlawing urban camping to control the homeless situation and to develop undercover operations to ready the police force for the huge potential growth of Goodyear. He strongly suggested that law enforcement should never be political, but an agency that just follows the law and that he will cooperate with DEA and Homeland Security in terms of immigration.
Brian is proud of his 159 officers who keep the town of Goodyear’s 117,000 residents safe. He noted that to show his officers appreciation, cards of encouragement, donating food, and possibly a softball game with the community would go a long way. He plans to create a Police Foundation in the future to receive appreciation.