Police Chief Steven Mecham to retire: A look at his 35-year career at USU
On New Year’s Eve, Utah State University’s police chief will celebrate more than just the new year. At midnight, Chief Steven Mecham will officially retire from his 35 years with the on-campus police department.
This year, he plans to enjoy the holiday with family board games and movies, as long as students don’t create a disturbance. If they do, he’ll put on his badge, head back to campus and celebrate by facilitating a few last arrests to finish his career.
But he hopes that doesn’t happen.
“Fortunately there’s no activities for campus on New Year’s Eve,” he said. “I hope that doesn’t change this year.”
Mecham looks forward to retirement. He wants to catch up on golf, travel, spend time with family and maybe serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with his wife, Darlene. But that’s not to say he hasn’t enjoyed his years on the force.
“It’s just been a great place to work,” he said. “It’s been good for my family and I’ve just loved it here.”
Looking back on his career, Mecham says, the 35 years at the campus police department have “flown by” in a way they never do when he’s looking toward the future.
Now, as Mecham begins to pack his office, he can look back at the memories he’s made and the moments that led him to Cache Valley years ago.
Steven Mecham in 1992.
Coming to Cache Valley
Although Mecham has been in the profession for 39 years, he says “nothing really specific” drew him to law enforcement. He had a friend who was a police officer at Rick’s College — now known as BYU-Idaho— and Mecham thought it sounded like a good job.
When he came home from serving a two-year LDS mission in Anaheim, California, he signed up for the law enforcement program at Rick’s College.
“I just fell in love with the profession 39 years ago,” he said.
Mecham earned an associate’s degree in law enforcement from Rick’s College in 1976. In 1977, he was hired as a patrol officer at Rick’s College.
Steven Mecham worked at Rick’s College — now known as BYU Idaho — in his early career. This photo was taken in 1979.
Four years later, he heard Utah State University was starting its own police department. He got the job as a patrol officer in 1981, and was one of nine officers who were hired to get the department running.
Mecham had only two of his six children at the time, and he said his wife was “very pregnant” with their third. As his family grew in size, his love for Cache Valley grew as well.
“Cache Valley is just a beautiful, beautiful place,” he said. “We’ve always had great neighbors, good friends.”
Mecham was promoted to sergeant shortly after he was hired, but his full-time job didn’t stop him from pursuing an education. He finished a degree at BYU in justice administration in 1986, went on to earn a master’s degree from USU in social science in 1990 and graduated from the FBI national academy in 1992.
That year, he was chosen to be USU’s chief of police. Over the years, he’s watched the police department and the university grow and change.
“It’s been a great ride,” he said. “I’ve made lots of good memories.”
Chief Mecham’s Memories
Some of Mecham’s favorite memories come from his days as a patrol officer.
He said the city didn’t send many patrols to the university in the 80s, so when he first arrived the university had a big problem with alcohol — students passing alcohol around Greek Row, drinking liquor openly at sporting events and holding parties on campus — he made lots of arrests in
Chief Steven Mecham, who has always been a big fan of Utah State University sports, watches a softball game with USU’s mascot, Big Blue. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong.
his early years.
“As a young officer, that was a lot of fun to make a lot of arrests — not hardcore arrests, just alcohol arrests,” he said.
Mecham said he remembers making a lot of arrests at Tequila Day every year. Tequila Day was held at one football game every year in the 80s, usually when the team played the University of Utah or Brigham Young University.
The event wasn’t university-sponsored, but the school allowed it to be promoted in the student center. Mecham said he still doesn’t understand the logic of the advertisement because USU has always been a dry campus, and he is happy the university stopped allowing advertisements and that Tequila Day has been forgotten.
One fun part of Tequila Day, Mecham said, was dressing in plain clothes and arresting students by surprise. Mecham said he was once sitting in the student section dressed in plain clothes when a student next to him sat down and pulled out several mini bottles of tequila.
“I pulled out my badge and said, ‘Come with me,’ and he was pretty bummed, but the look on his face was priceless,” Mecham recalled.
But the chief hasn’t enjoyed every event on campus.
“I’m not sad that I’ve been to my last Halloween Howl,” he said with a chuckle.
Chief Mecham, Sergeant Jessica Vahsholtz, Captain Steve Milne and Sergeant Joe Hush wait around before the Halloween Howl, USU’s most popular party of the year, in October 2016. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong.
Although the Howl brings a lot of mischief to the university, Mecham said it still makes USU students look good.
“That’s our biggest day of the year for arrests and most, the vast majority of those arrests, do not involve USU students, so that’s kudos to our students who are wise enough to not drink alcohol,” he said. “Most universities wouldn’t be able to throw a party like this.”
Mecham said alcohol problems have decreased over the years. Officers no longer dress in plain clothes at sporting events and more students are aware of the consequences of consuming alcohol on campus. But he’s watched other problems increase.
He said the number of students with emotional and mental illnesses has increased over the years.
“The number of students we’ve seen who have threatened suicide or have sought help because they have suicidal thoughts has just skyrocketed over the years,” he said. “It’s sad and it’s hard. There’s just too many students feeling that way and hopefully things will start changing and students will start seeing that there’s help, there’s reason to live and there’s happier days ahead.”
Mecham said the officers try to help students through those suicidal thoughts, and work closely with student affairs and the counseling center to help students work through mental illness.
He said the department has also been more attentive to the possibility of an on-campus active shooter situation because of increasing incidents around the country.
“It’s been kind of sad to watch that happen across the country, and of course sad when it happens on a college campus, but the reality is it can happen anywhere,” he said. “It can happen here today or tomorrow and nobody I think can consider themselves immune, so we have to prepare.”
Mecham said these and other prominent issues at USU, such as sexual assault, are at the forefront of the officers’ minds. For the most part, though, he considers USU a safe place.
“Overall at Utah State University, we have not a had a lot of the real hardcore crime and that’s a good place to be,” he said.
Sergeant Travis Dunn, Officer Andy Barnes, Chief Mecham, Captain Milne, Sergeant Joe Huish, Officer Travis Robson and Officer Kim Ellis prepare to enforce the law at Utah State University’s 2015 graduation ceremony. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong.
Service and Safety
Every week, among more serious incidents like car accidents and rape investigations, campus police officers respond to lockouts, jump starts and other minor issues on campus.
Steven Milne, the captain of the department, said the USU police responds to more service calls than most other police departments.
“We do far more general service calls than we did in the old days. A lot of that’s because of (Mecham),” Milne said. “Are they really in the realm of the police department? I don’t know, but he pushes that. He wants people to call us. He’s quick to say, ‘Absolutely.’”
Since his first day on the job, Mecham has believed officers should care about and serve the campus community in any way they can.
Milne said Mecham tells officers, “Don’t just sit in the car all day. Get out and interact with your community and get to know the people you’re serving and protecting.”
Ryan Barfuss, Chief Mecham and Officer Chad Vernon of the Logan City Police march against rape while wearing high heels at Walk a Mile in Her Shoes in 2011. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong.After Mecham was made chief, he created a bicycle patrol program.
“I felt like that was one way to get officers closer to people,” he said. “We’re human. They can stop and talk to us. I think that provides a sense of safety and security. You can be safe, but if you don’t feel safe, you’re not safe.”
And safety is Mecham’s top priority. He’s happy that USU is frequently ranked among the safest college campuses in the nation.
“It speaks well of our citizens; it speaks well of our law enforcement,” he said. “Really I think it speaks to the overall quality of citizens that we have in the valley. Good people, good schools, good opportunities.”
Mecham said one challenge of enforcing laws in a safe community is avoiding becoming complacent.
“When you work in a department like ours when there’s not a lot of bad crime—we’re so grateful for that—but it could happen tomorrow,” he said. “It demands that we train. Even though it may not happen, we train as though it would happen tomorrow.”
Judy Crockett, the department’s emergency management coordinator, said Mecham encourages officers to adjust their work schedules to make time for education.
“He is very, very supportive of furthering your training and doing whatever he can to help you and support your job,” she said.
In case there’s a campus-wide crisis, Mecham also encourages officers to join focus groups in the valley and get to know other members of law enforcement.
“He’s very attuned to the fact that, just being a small department, that if we ever have a big emergency, we’ll be relying a lot on the outside agencies. So he works to make sure those lines of communications are established,” Milne said.
Fire Marshal Jason Winn, Captain Milne, Lieutenant Shane Sessions, Chief Mecham, Office Sutton Hanzalik demonstrate their strength before the 2009 Special Olympics torch run. Photo courtesy of Heather Strong.
Mecham also cares about his team. He makes sure the officers have personal needs taken care of and have time to spend with family.
“I have a firm belief that if people are happy at home, they’ll be better employees,” he said.
Those he’s been in charge of are grateful for his influence on the department.
“He’s very calm and easygoing. He’s very service-oriented,” Crockett said. “He’s just a good man.”
Making space for a new chief
In December, Mecham will pack up his graduation diplomas. He’ll pack up the pictures of his grandchildren, the knick knacks on his window sill, and the handfuls of Snoopy dolls — one representing almost every year he was chief at USU — sitting by his desk.
Chief Mecham poses with his wife, Darlene.
He’ll do so confident that his coworkers and friends will move on without him.
A nationwide search for a new chief has already begun, and the hiring committee will review applications in early December. If a replacement isn’t immediately found, Milne will temporarily fill the position.
“I’m confident that whoever steps into this office will understand a college environment, what we need to be and what we need to be prepared for,” Mecham said. “I’m confident that they’ll continue on in a new path and probably move to new heights.”
The campus police department will hold a farewell party for Mecham on Dec. 8 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Alumni House. Everyone is invited to attend.
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