Assistant Chief Michael Dvorak will serve as Mesa’s interim police chief starting next week.
Current Chief John Meza will retire at the end of the year.
The department first hired Dvorak in 1987, and he recently oversaw the investigations bureau.
Dvorak wrote in a report released by the police department in June that he wants to boost community partnerships and transparency.
Meza was also an assistant chief before becoming interim and then official chief in April 2015. He served the department for 30 years.
His departure is prompted by Arizona’s public-safety retirement-system rules.
