Milford Police Chief Cecilia “Cici” Ashe was given a pay increase by Milford City Council at their regular meeting on Monday, March 9. The vote was taken after a short executive session.
“I make a motion to increase the chief’s salary to $183,000,” Councilman Lori Connor said soon after council returned to regular session. “This is based on merit increases and cost of living increases that are given to all city employees. This is also taking into consideration the fact that the chief’s 2025 evaluation was foregone until more data was collected.”
The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Katrina Wilson and passed by a vote of 7-0 with Councilman Danny Perez absent.
Because the police chief is contracted for her position, no information was available regarding her current rate of pay. Therefore, there is no information on what percentage her salary increased with the vote on Monday.
The new salary puts Ashe within $12,000 of the salary earned by City Manager Chris Coleman. When Coleman was hired, his salary was met with resistance from several council members and the public. There was no resistance to the increase for Ashe during Monday’s meeting.
Ashe was hired as the police chief in February 2023 after the retirement of then-Chief Kenneth Brown. Since taking the position, Ashe has focused on reducing crime in the city and growing the Behavioral Health Unit that has reduced arrests when substances or mental health issues are present.
A review of crime statistics from 2023 through 2025 indicate that there has been a slight reduction in property crime but no change in violent crime, although Milford has very few violent crimes. The most common crime in the city is theft.
