New Millcreek police chief pledges to build community relationships, up officer training

Officials in Millcreek Township have tapped a longtime member of the township police department to lead the force.

Carter Mook, 51, a 28-year veteran of the Millcreek Township Police Department who most recently served as deputy chief, was sworn in by township supervisors on Tuesday to lead the 66-member department.

Mook becomes the 11th chief in the department's history and replaces Scott Heidt, who retired at the end of January.

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Mook has served the department as a patrol corporal, accredited traffic crash reconstructionist, lieutenant platoon commander and captain in charge of patrol before he was appointed deputy chief in November. He has served as acting chief since Heidt's departure.

Mook said his goals in his new position include making the department more visible in the community and focusing on communication inside and outside of the department. As the township becomes more diverse, he and other members of the department will reach out to those groups and establish communications with them, Mook said.

"Everyone will be called on to be a leader," he said of the other members of the department. "A leader doesn't necessarily equal your rank."

As part of that, Mook said the department will start providing leadership training to officers who are promoted. He said just because someone is promoted because of their abilities on the job, it doesn't always mean that person will be good in a leadership role.

"It gives them the tools to succeed," Mook said of the training.

The Millcreek Police Department has also recently appointed one of its officers as a full-time training officer, which Mook said was a big need in the department.

Also new to the department is an in-house crisis clinician who started work on Monday. The clinician, paid for through a nearly $250,000 state grant, will respond to mental health incidents and follow up on cases. Another component of that grant was training some members of the Millcreek department to be peer counselors for other officers.

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"I was in a patrol car for 20 years and saw a lot of stuff. That can take a toll," Mook said. "Having a person an officer can talk to through the support program is key."

Mook said the department is also working to build morale through the creation of an employee of the month and employee of the year program.

Mook, the father of a 14-year-old daughter, said his main goal as chief is to provide a quality service to the township's residents.

"We want to continue our standard of excellence so the community will continue to be proud of us," he said.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: New Millcreek police chief pledges to build community relationships