BELLEVUE, Wash. — Police Chief Steve Mylett is leaving the Bellevue Police Department. After six years as Bellevue’s top cop, he has accepted the same position in Akron, Ohio.
Mylett joined the Bellevue Police Department in 2015. On Monday, he talked about the success of the department, focusing on building bridges with the community and increasing crime reporting.
“I told city manager Brad Miyake when I was interviewing for the job if I was successful, we would see a rise in crime, reported crime. Because I was convinced there were communities in Bellevue that were not reporting crime — either they had no relationship with police, or they were afraid of us,” said Mylett. “By building those bridges, whose foundation is built on trust, that we would actually see more people coming forward to report victimization, and I think we’ve accomplished that.”
During the Black Lives Matter movement, he listened to protesters.
On May 31, 2020, when officers were busy closing roads and rerouting traffic during a protest over the death of George Floyd, teams of looters broke their way into Bellevue Square by the hundreds, stealing everything they could.
“That was such a terrible event in our country,” said Mylett. “None of us were immune from it. I think Bellevue witnessed something here that it had never witnessed before and, God willing, will never see again.”
Detectives poured through thousands of cellphone videos to identify and arrest those responsible.
Under Mylett’s leadership, detectives also stopped sex traffickers and saved their victims.
“Through some innovative investigations, we were able to rescue many women and men from sex slavery and servitude,” said Mylett.
His one regret? It’s missing child Sky Metalwala.
“That’s the one regret that I have leaving here is that we weren’t able to find him,” said Mylett.
Metalwala disappeared Nov. 6, 2011. His mother told police she left Metalwala in the car after she ran out of gas and walked to a gas station with her daughter. Detectives said her car wasn’t out of gas. Metalwala was never found. The boy’s photo sits on Mylett’s desk.
“I see his picture every single day. There is one person who can bring closure to this, and that is his mother. Again, I ask Julia Biryukova to come forward, work with our detectives and bring Sky home,” he said.
Mylett said Metalwala’s framed photo will stay on the next chief’s desk as a reminder, honoring the vow to keep searching for the little boy.
“Our commitment is to do everything in our power to find him — whether that’s this year or 20 years from now. We owe that to him. We owe that to his family,” said Mylett.
Mylett said he accepted the job in Akron, Ohio, for family reasons. He and his wife, Joanne, think they will have a better chance of getting their adult children and grandchildren to move nearby.
Mylett starts his new job in Ohio on Aug. 9.