Crime Cut In Half!

The Azusa City Council confirming the appointment of Chief King Davis, Jr. From left, above: Mayor Pro Tem Joe Rocha, Councilmember David Hardison, Mayor Cristina Cruz-Madrid, Councilmember Diane Chagnon, Chief Davis, and Councilmember Dick Stanford.

Crime cut in half!
Top-ranking Police Force gets a top-flight leader

“It’s the best trained police department in the Valley and overall, it ranks among the best of its size in California,” explained King Davis Jr., Azusa’s new Chief of Police. That was his motivation to lead the Azusa Police into the 21st Century. A decorated veteran colonel in the Special Forces and a former Agent-in-Charge with the United States Secret Service, Davis was chosen from a stellar field of candidates through a selection process that attracted notice for the intensity of professional and community involvement.

“We started by listening,” recalled Councilmember Diane Chagnon. “We asked the community and the police officers themselves what they were looking for in a new chief. The foremost response was a leader, someone who would lead by example. The candidates were rigorously scrutinized. The one who came out on top was a chief with universal respect among his colleagues here in the San Gabriel Valley.”

Davis leads a force with the best record in the Valley for controlling crime. Serious crime has gone down for eight years in a row cut in half since 1991. “We’ve done it by sticking to a simple program: give our officers the best training and the best equipment available and support them all the way,” explained Councilmember Dave Hardison.

After moving into a new state-of-the-art Police Facility in 1998, more than a million dollars has been invested in bringing technology to the finger tips of patrol officers and dispatchers. “Virtually all the funds have come from asset seizure and grant funds,” Chief Davis advised. “We’re focused on results. That’s where we direct our investments.”

Grant funds were tapped last year to extend a new crime fighting tool, a cooperative elicopter support agreement with six neighboring cities, sharing the costs and benefits of instant response and aerial tracking. “We are always looking for innovative approaches,” added Hardison. “The standard is: Will it make Azusa safer?

That’s what our residents support and expect.”
That community involvement is key. This year, the third class graduated from the Azusa Community Academy, an eleven-week course where volunteers learn first-hand how a modern police force works. “As a resident who was curious about the workings of our Police Department, I was happy to be accepted into the program,” noted School Board member Lisa Harrington. “We had the opportunity to walk in the shoes of police officers and on a safe and controlled level, faced many of the dangers associated with the job. This was an eye-opening experience which will change the way I view Law Enforcement forever.”

Participation has also been the hallmark of the community response to a disturbing pattern of suspected hate crimes. Residents banded together to protect two families in one neighborhood and the attacks ceased. On a citywide level, the City Council unanimously backed a four-point program to eradicate hate crimes, including support for a pro-active police approach and the appointment of a Human Relations Commission now working on prevention efforts.