The Good Folks of The South Mountain/Laveen Village’s
By George Young
(gayoung@cox.net)
This is a series of articles profiling some of the residents who live and work in the South Mountain/Laveen Villages. In keeping with the original format of the Villager to only print the positive, we will attempt to acknowledge some of the great folks that have contributed so much to our lives and are hopefully role models for all of us. This month we will profile one of my newest friends Commander Chris Crockett.

As the new commander of the South Mountain Precinct it is my wish to introduce myself to each of you and the entire South Mountain community. I took over the leadership of this precinct on Monday, October 11th and although the circumstances of my assignment are not what I would have wished for, this is truly my dream job/assignment. I began my career as a Phoenix Police Officer in 1987 here in the South Mountain Precinct. I served this precinct as a patrol officer, Field Training Officer (FTO) and a walking beat officer.
In 1991, I tested for Police Sergeant and after being promoted, I was assigned to the Desert Horizon Precinct and also later worked in the Central City Precinct. I was then selected to serve in the Community Relations Bureau (CRB) as one of three School Resource Officer (SRO) sergeants for the City. I was later then selected to supervise our Confrontation Prevention Squad and also served as a Basic Training Sergeant at the training academy for 4 classes of police recruits. I was then promoted to Police Lieutenant and served 10 years at this rank, where I worked the Desert Horizon Precinct, South Mountain Precinct (twice), Maryvale Precinct, the Legal Unit and the Vehicular Crimes Unit. After promotion to Police Commander, I have served as the Bureau Commander for the Public Affairs Bureau (PAB), as the Duty Commander, the Commander of the Central City Precinct and the Community Relations Bureau.
Prior to becoming a Phoenix Police Officer, I was a police officer for the City of Yuma serving from 1985-1987. Being originally for Newark, New Jersey, I came to Arizona while serving the last of my 4 years on active duty in the United States Marine Corps.
On a personal note, I am the father of 11 ranging in age from 29 years to just a couple of months (8 boys and 3 girls). I have lived most of my 23 years as a Phoenix Police Officer in the South Mountain Community and have volunteered my time as a coach in Pop Warner football, Little League Baseball as well as YMCA and Boys and Girls club basketball. I have been a mentor to at risk youth and certified as a substitute elementary school teacher in the Roosevelt School District. So, I not only work in this community, I also raise my children and volunteer in this community.
As was the case in 1987, when I began my career with the Phoenix Police Department, we have some of the finest officers and supervisors on the entire Phoenix Police Department working in our precinct and serving you. Some proof of the excellence of our officers is how often our officers, sergeants and lieutenants are selected to some of the most elite units/details on the Phoenix Police Department. It is my honor to be their commander; However, I am not only the commander of our officers, I am also your commander. I am here to serve my officers and we together are here to serve you.
I must stress that the employees of this precinct work hard every day, doing outstanding police work, the right way every hour of every day. I have always thought that the men and women of this precinct serving you were the best that the Phoenix Police Department had to offer. I have always believed that the South Mountain Precinct was the very best precinct on the Phoenix Police Department and I know with all of my heart that each of these two statements is true. That being said, any organization can be better, more efficient and more effective. We will continue to get better, more efficient and look for more and innovative ways to be more effective serving you. Our relationship with the South Mountain Community is a partnership and we must work together every day to make this community safer, to improve the quality of life and to set a high standard for future generations of police officers and their relationship with the community. I look forward to serving you and will do my absolute best every day in this service.
God Bless Commander Crockett, God Bless America and God Bless the South Mountain/Laveen Village’s.