Mesa community remembers fallen officer as advocate, guardian

Mesa police officer Brandon Mendoza started working with the department as a teen and spent more than a dozen years patrolling the streets of Mesa, but one need to look no further than a small park in West Mesa to see Mendoza's affect in the area, according to residents, community members and fellow officers.

Many residents who live near Mesa's Guerrero Rotary Park, near Eighth Avenue and Country Club Drive, knew who Mendoza was, not only as a police officer but as an advocate for the community and a guardian who frequently patrolled the area making sure the neighborhood was secure.

Mendoza worked with members of the West Mesa Community Development Corporation to secure grant funding that allowed police to do more work in the neighborhood, said Cythnia Dunham, the group's Executive Director. The success of those efforts led members of the development group to tease Mendoza about achieving "rock star status" among the residents, she said.

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"In work where your success is based on the relationships you make, he was a great example of what can be achieved," Dunham said.

The strength of those bonds extended to some of the area's youngest residents who were involved in a youth baseball program that arose after officers worked to clear vandals, gang members and transients from the neighborhood park, said Steve Jimenez, a baseball coach at Guerrero Park and close friend of Mendoza.

Once the park was remodeled, Jimenez said Mendoza would swing by practices weekly while on patrol where the kids on the baseball team would hug him or shake his hand to greet him.

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"He made a huge impact," Jimenez said. "He was the epitome of closing the gap between the community and police."

Ray Villa, the Community Partnership Coordinator for the Mesa Police Department said Mendoza's dedication to community policing— a philosophy that relies on relationships between police and residents to identify and address public safety issues— was also evident in the way people would invite Mendoza into their homes to eat when he was on patrol.

"He demonstrated what it was to be a community officer," Villa said. "He was intimately involved."

When it came to crime though, Mendoza was like a bull dog who would go out and take care of the issue no matter what it took, Villa said.

Mendoza had aspirations to rise to the rank of sergeant for the Mesa Police Department, Villa said. Mendoza had been studying and preparing for his interview and had placed among the top 20 qualifiers for the position, he said.

"He was nervous, young, but he had a real passion for the work and compassion for those he worked with." Villa said. "There was a strong likelihood that he would have been promoted to Sergeant in the near future."

Mendoza received numerous awards and accolades during the years that he dedicated to the police department, including being named the Optimist Club of Mesa's Officer of the Year in 2013 for his strong work ethic, Villa said.

Mendoza was also openly gay and an active member of the Valley's LGBT community, prompting many who had never met the veteran Mesa officer to offer their condolences and words of support after learning of his death on Monday.

"The community has lost an honorable and brave man," former Phoenix city councilman Tom Simplot wrote on Twitter Monday. "The LGBT community has lost one of our own. Rest in peace Officer Brandon Mendoza."

But for many residents who lived and worked in Mendoza's patrol area, much of the focus on Monday was on his work as an officer.

Mendoza started working with Mesa police in the department's Explorer Program, which is designed for young people interested in police work. Tony Landato, a Mesa police spokesman, said June would have marked Mendoza's 13th anniversary as a Mesa officer.

"He definitely touched many lives, and will be dearly missed." Landato said.

As for the community where Mendoza was known so well, many reacted in shock to know that the officer they came to know would no longer be seen patrolling the streets of their West Mesa neighborhood.

Leo Sosa, who had called Mendoza on his personal number a few times for community concerns said that he saw Mendoza patrolling the area last week, just as he always did, but the officer's legacy reemains evident at the park.

"There was a big drop in the homeless population who would reside at the park and a new fence was installed to keep away stray animals." Sosa said. "A new playground was installed for children. That wasn't there before Officer Mendoza came out."

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