Department of Public Safety Director-Designate David Gonzales says increasing the ranks of highway patrolmen and crime lab employees and convincing the Legislature that DPS employees deserve higher pay are his top priorities.

Mr. Gonzales, a long-time DPS officer and currently the U.S. Marshal for Arizona, was appointed by Governor Napolitano to replace Col. Dennis Garrett, who retires in January at the end of his five-year appointment.

“It’s no secret that in the Highway Patrol, which is the bedrock of this agency, we need more officers, not only in the rural communities but also in the metro areas like Phoenix,” said Mr. Gonzales at a ceremony Nov. 23 at DPS headquarters announcing his appointment. “Just as importantly, we need to raise the salary of our employees. I understand there are great needs in this state with education and health care issues and all the other things that come along, but I also think that one of the primary jobs in government is to protect the citizens . . .”

Mr. Gonzalez began with the agency as a 21-year-old highway patrolman based in

Flagstaff.