Q&A: Meet Montgomery ISD's new police chief

Rickey Doerre, the incoming chief of police for Montgomery ISD, spoke with Community Impact in late July as he takes on his new role of leading the district's police department. He began his new role July 10, working alongside outgoing Police Chief Stephen Phillips, who is retiring effective Aug. 31.

Doerre said he has been in the police field for over 33 years, with the last 19 years being second in command for the Tomball Police Department. He said he has a background in school district policing with school resource offers on campus as well.

What do you believe are the benefits of having a police department in-house in Montgomery ISD?

I think one of the best advantages is you can allocate your personnel as needed when needed to address situations as they change. We all know things are fluid and change on a daily basis, and so to have the latitude to move your officers from Point A to Point B without going through a contract vendor really enhances your program. I think, secondly and as important, your officers are a part of the community; they build a bond with the faculty, the students, the community itself; and it's just an asset to have your own department and develop those men and women.

Are there any new practices or trainings you're looking to bring to MISD to improve school safety?

Chief Phillips has done an amazing job over his tenure here from establishing processes and procedures and growing the department, so as a new chief walking in the door what I want to do is I want to take what he has done, take an opportunity to evaluate everything and then continue to move things forward. ... Most definitely as the district grows, the department will have to grow as well.

How does a school police department differ from a traditional city police department?

You know, policing is policing. But I think the biggest difference is, in a school district police department you have an officer who is the guardian of that campus. Basically what that means is they are there every day; that's their home; they don't move; they build those relationships; but yet that guardian also has to have that warrior mentality if something were to take place on campus that he or she is capable of handling that. Municipal policing, you're working patrol; you're working investigations; you're maybe working as an SRO over [at] the school district; but there's just other aspects of policing you're taking care of, where our primary focus [as a school police department] is the safety and security of the students and the faculty and our buildings and property.

What about MISD enticed you to take the position?

You know, I had recently retired, and I retired with the purpose of finding out what comes next in life. A lot of my time or tenure with the city [of Tomball] was spent overseeing our school district policing. ... So when I saw that the Montgomery ISD posted a position for a chief and read kind of the resume they had put out, it [aligned] with my career with the city of Tomball. If I am [going to] go back into law enforcement, I was pretty picky and choosy about what I wanted to do, and right now I think there's no greater call than to watch over and protect the students and faculty and the school districts. It is kid of a hot topic right now; it's really where I think law enforcement now is starting to focus a little more and devote more assets and resources.