In exclusive interview, Bellevue’s new police chief opens up about Sky Metalwala disappearance

BELLEVUE, Wash. -- In his first one-on-one interview since being sworn in as Bellevue’s new police chief, Steve Mylett spoke candidly Wednesday about the state of the department and a series of embarrassing incidents involving officers.

Speaking to Q13 FOX News' Brandi Kruse, Mylett -- who was sworn in Monday -- also commented on the unsolved disappearance of 2-year-old Sky Metalwala, admitting that the child is likely dead, based on what he knows about the case.

The toddler disappeared on Nov. 6, 2011, after his mother, Julia Biryukova, claimed to have left him alone in her car on the side of a Bellevue street after running out of gas.

Despite holes in her story, Biryukova has never been charged in the case and stopped cooperating with detectives early on in the investigation.

“With the information that I have, she’s the missing link,” Mylett said of Biryukova. “We need to talk to her and so I encourage her, I encourage her attorney to make her available and let us speak with her.”

Mylett said he was briefed on the case Wednesday morning. He said the department has continued to receive leads from the public.

“Every lead that we get we’re following. No policeman in this police department is resting easy, because this little boy is still missing,” he said.

During the interview, Mylett discussed a series of embarrassing incidents involving Bellevue police officers over the past several years, including two officers who were thrown out of a Seattle Seahawks game for being drunk and belligerent and two members of the command staff who were demoted for hiding an affair.

"I'll tell you this, and before I go into it it's going to kind of sound strange hearing me say this: I'll deal with all problems, but I'm glad I'm not finding problems dealing with corruption, dealing with excessive force, bias-based policing, discrimination, and those issues," he said. “These are issues dealing with people in their personal lives and officers are people."

Mylett said it is crucial to look out for warning signs that officers may be having trouble in their personal lives.

When misconduct occurs, he said the discipline must be swift and fair.

"You handle them one at a time. You set the example right out of the gate, and I'll be doing that with this workforce,” he said.

Mylett, 49, is a married father of four who spent much of his career with the Corpus Christi (Texas) Police Department. In 2011, he became the chief of police in Southlake, an affluent suburb of Dallas.

He was offered the job of Bellevue police chief on March 2, 2015, following two nationwide searches.

Below are the videos of the longer interview:

Part 1: Chief Steve Mylett discusses the arrest of murder suspect Song Wang and the unsolved disappearance of 2-year-old Sky Metalwala:

Part 2: Chief Steve Mylett discusses his personal life and moving from Texas to the Northwest.