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Don't misunderstand.
Alex Hayes, Omaha's new police chief, is glad that the city has recorded fewer homicides this year than in 2008 — 28 (so far) vs. 44.
“It's nice to see that we're down,” he said. “It offers hope for people.”
But ...
“The reason I don't like talking about it is I don't want people to get complacent: ‘Well, we're in the 20s, that's great.' No, zero is great.
“We've still got work to do ... People need to get to a point where they don't have to pick up a firearm to solve their issues.”
Hayes, as an Omaha police officer for the last 23 years, has spent his career dealing with the fallout from people's misuse of firearms. As chief, he's in a position to set policies that could help reduce violence in the city.
As a deputy chief in charge of the Criminal Investigations Bureau, Hayes said, he formed the felony assault unit, an offshoot of the homicide unit. “It's putting detectives specifically to work on felony assault cases,” he said. The detectives look at separate shootings, try to determine whether they are connected and seek out the shooter or shooters.
He also added staff to the department's firearms squad that works to recover stolen firearms and track straw purchases — gun buys made by a friend or a girlfriend of a convicted felon who couldn't otherwise obtain a gun. The squad works closely on the issue with the U.S. Attorney's Office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Hayes said.
Hayes, 45, was sworn in as chief in a Tuesday morning ceremony at the Omaha Public Safety Training Center, 11616 Rainwood Road. Among those attending were uniform officers, plainclothes detectives, police union President Aaron Hanson and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning. Mayor Jim Suttle introduced Hayes to the gathering and swore him in as chief as Hayes' wife, Rieko, and 8-year-old daughter, Rena, stood by.
Hayes had been serving as acting police chief since August, when Eric Buske retired and became police chief in Bryan, Texas.
Hayes becomes the city's 31st police chief and its second black chief.
Hayes is the former commander of the homicide unit. Among his many other posts, he served as captain of the northeast precinct.
Both Suttle and Hayes spoke Tuesday of the need for stability in the department. Buske served as chief for a little more than a year.
Suttle said the department had many qualified candidates who made the selection of chief a tough decision for him, but he credited Hayes' “ability to form relationships with all the stakeholders” in the community as one of the deciding factors.
A timetable on how long Hayes would be on the job was not given, but Suttle said the department has had too many chiefs leave the job too soon.
“I don't have any desire to leave or anything like that,” Hayes said in an interview.
Hayes said retirements from the department have slowed this year.
“A lot of people are worried about senior, tenured officers who left the agency,” Hayes said, “but it's important for people to realize there are still a lot of good people in our building.”
Hayes thanked his family for putting up with the long hours and thanked the department as a whole for its support.
He said he plans to continue working with the community to address the crime problem and knows the importance of community policing.
Hayes said he thinks the department is heading in the right direction and spoke of a new recruiting class set to begin next month, followed by another in June. One change he plans is to make lieutenants and captains a bigger part of the decision-making process so when more-senior officers leave, the department will maintain a stable base.
Hayes said becoming chief had not been his goal until he was promoted to lieutenant. As he took on different jobs and rose through the department, he said, he realized that unless he was in charge, “I can make suggestions, but I really can't make those decisions.”
Hayes' father, William Hayes, was one of several family members in the audience Tuesday morning, along with one of Hayes' sisters, Teresa Negron, a sergeant in the department's homicide unit.
William Hayes, 74, said he was proud of his youngest child. He said he never had pictured his son becoming a police officer.
The elder Hayes said he wished his wife, Clara, was still alive to see their son become chief.
“It means a lot to me to see him get this far,” he said. “Maybe we did something right.”
Contact the writer:
444-1109, bob.glissmann@owh.com
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