Despite looking forward to joining the ranks of the happily unemployed, Milender said he will miss his job, the people with whom he has worked for so many years, and serving the community of Fairfield. I've had a wide variety of very interesting experiences here in Fairfield. Those experiences began in 1972, when Milender was hired as a beat cop. Those were the days when police officers had little of the high-tech equipment now so common in law enforcement. It's a tougher environment now than it was 30 years ago.
Police have technology, but crooks make use of technology too.
Technology may have changed, but, at its heart, the essence of law enforcement has remained the same, Milender said. Basically, a crook is still a crook. That philosophy of fighting crime at its most basic levels may be what has helped Milender and his department see a steady decrease in criminal activity during the past decade. Since becoming Chief in 1993, Milender has been instrumental in increasing the size of the Fairfield Police force - from a staff of 93 officers eight years ago to 107 officers today. And as the department has grown, crime has steadily fallen.