08/03/2026
๐๐๐ฌ ๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐๐: ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐พ๐ค๐ข๐ข๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐ผ๐ฃ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐๐จ ๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ
The Gila River Police Department is pleased to announce the selection of Michael Angstead as its new Chief of Police. Following a comprehensive and highly competitive selection process, Chief Angstead was chosen for his proven leadership, extensive law enforcement experience, commitment to community engagement and vision for advancing public safety within the Gila River Indian Community.
The selection process included multiple phases of evaluation and assessment, as well as several community and employee meet-and-greet events. Employees of the Gila River Police Department, Community residents, and Community Elders were provided the opportunity to meet the finalists, ask questions, and share valuable feedback regarding the selection of the department's next Chief of Police. This collaborative process ensured that the voices of those who work within and are served by the department were considered as part of this important leadership decision.
Chief Angstead brings more than 28 years of law enforcement experience, including six years as Assistant Chief with the Gilbert Police Department, where he oversaw the Criminal Investigations Bureau. Throughout his distinguished career, he has led major organizational initiatives focused on public safety, officer development, operational excellence, technology modernization, and community partnerships.
His leadership experience includes overseeing critical projects such as police accreditation efforts, the development of a regional training academy, implementation of advanced public safety technologies, the creation of specialized enforcement units, and the expansion of victim advocacy services. His background reflects a commitment to innovation, accountability, and building organizations capable of meeting the evolving needs of the communities they serve.
Prior to joining the Gilbert Police Department, Chief Angstead served as a Juvenile Probation Officer with the Pinal County Superior Court and as a Corrections Officer with the Arizona Department of Corrections. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Justice Studies from Arizona State University and a Master of Arts degree in Public Administration from Park University. He has also completed the Arizona Police Staff and Command Program and the Senior Management Institute for Police.
An Arizona native, Chief Angstead was born in Phoenix and has spent his entire life in Arizona. He and his wife, Lisa, attended high school and Arizona State University together. Lisa dedicated many years to educating young students as a kindergarten teacher and currently serves within the Chandler Unified School District. Their son, Tom, serves as a police officer with the Mesa Police Department, while their son, Joe, works as a heavy equipment operator for Maricopa County.
As the Gila River Indian Community continues to invest in public safety, strengthen community partnerships, and support the professional growth of its police department, Chief Angstead's leadership will play an important role in shaping the future of the organization.
"๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ," said Chief Angstead. "๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ๐ดโ๐ช๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ต๐บ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บโ๐ด ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ด๐ข๐ง๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต. ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ.
Acting Chief William Lewis expressed his enthusiasm for the department's future and the leadership transition.
"๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ," said Acting Chief William Lewis. "๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ข ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ'๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ."
The Gila River Police Department and the Gila River Indian Community extends a warm welcome to Chief Angstead and his family and looks forward to the leadership, collaboration, and continued progress that lies ahead.
