Atlantic Beach police chief stepping down

Atlantic Beach Police Chief Michelle Cook announced that she will step down in a bid for sheriff in Clay County. The Green Cove Springs native filed for the Clay County sheriff position Jan. 8. She is the fifth candidate to file for the position and the second woman in the running.
The announcement generated a public outpouring of support in Atlantic Beach.
“I’ve been overwhelmed at the response. It’s nice. It makes me feel good,” Cook said Monday. “My plan was to retire out of Atlantic Beach after about eight or 10 years, but I’m from Clay County. All my family lives in Clay County. I got a phone call a few months back. People in Clay County call me Missy, and it said, 'Missy, you need to come home,' It literally took the breath out of me. It started weighing on me about going home and helping my home county. I don’t want to dive too deep into the challenges they’re having there, but I’m tough, proven, responsive and [I want to be] somebody they can be proud of.”
Cook’s last day of public service is Jan. 31. She leaves the department in good standing during the replacement process. In her tenure as police chief, the agency achieved accreditation, is fully staffed, and trained in disaster and hurricane preparedness and response.
“We got huge props for that from our citizens. With so many agencies that struggle to fill vacancies we are fully staffed and that’s something I am very proud too. We have good quality men and women applying to come work for us,” said Cook, who will be “as involved as the city wants me to be” with hiring her replacement.
Cook opted to take a leave of absence to give new City Manager Shane Corbin breathing room to learn his job without the pressure of trying to find a new police chief.
“It also gives my number two in charge, Cmdr. [Vic] Gualillo, an opportunity to serve as interim to see if it’s going to be a good fit,” she said. “If you make him full chief and he doesn’t do well, he will lose his job and I don’t want that. I just want to give him a chance to prove he can be chief. It’s a good opportunity for everyone to take a deep breath and work together and allow for great continuity in city government. I just want what’s best for the city of Atlantic Beach because Atlantic Beach has been so good to me.”
During her tenure, Cook was instrumental in opening up the department to the community in a new way. Cook established a presence on social media that allowed her to react and respond in real time to situations from stolen bicycles to active drug investigations.
“As a police industry, we’ve got to be more responsive to people. We’re getting better at it but having somebody who can respond quickly even if the answer is no, people just want to know that they have an opportunity to be heard and a difference be made. I’ve really tried to press upon my people that responsiveness is extremely important. It doesn’t just mean when somebody calls 911,” she said. “If someone just has a question about where do I go to pay my parking ticket, you don’t wait three days to call them back. You call them back quickly with an answer even if that answer is I don’t know right now but I’m going to research it and get back to you. A level of customer service expectation.”
The reaction from the police department has been bittersweet.
“They said they were going to start a 'Cancel Cook' campaign. They are very supportive, very positive. They are great men and women, and they’re in a really good place. They understand and they agree that I have the skillset and experience that’s needed to go to Clay and help address some of the challenges they are having there.”
Cook has a 28-year career in law enforcement with both the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Atlantic Beach police. Cook’s previous roles have included head of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Department of Patrol and Enforcement, director of Personnel and Professional Standards, chief of patrol, assistant chief of narcotics and vice, and SWAT intelligence commander before transitioning to the city of Atlantic Beach. She earned a master’s degree in criminal justice administration from the University of North Florida.
“I’ve worked under four different sheriffs and my job for those 26 and a half years was to execute the vision of the sheriff that was in charge. Wonderful career at JSO, not taking anything away from that, but when I came out to Atlantic Beach two and a half years ago, I had the opportunity to execute my vision for what law enforcement should look like,” recalled Cook.
Going from a large urban jurisdiction with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to smaller municipalities like Atlantic Beach and Clay County offers Cook the chance to exercise accessibility and establish more personal connections with those in the communities. She’s looking forward to making a difference in her hometown that’s been marred by controversy surrounding current Sheriff Darryl Daniels.
Daniels is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement involving deputies who allegedly detained his longtime mistress for over six hours without formal criminal charges. Though Daniels issued a public apology for the scandal and embarrassment his affair caused the department, he has not announced his intention to run in the upcoming election. Clay County primary elections will be held Nov. 18.
“When I started the job, there was no discussion about me running for sheriff in Clay County. In fact, it wasn’t even on the table. Up until a few months ago, I was the chief of Atlantic Beach and that was where I was going to retire. It’s an example of a very genuine and sincere leadership style that I have with not only the personnel that work for me but also the community that we serve,” noted Cook.
“I’m good at reminding the men and women who work for me how valuable they are and I’m a true believer that if you treat your people well, that will in turn resonate with the community. For me, just being responsive and transparent and honest and trustworthy, that’s what they needed to see in a leader when I went in there. Sort of being able to walk the walk and talk the talk. That is just who I am.”