Politics & Government

Police Chief Explains Dept. Restructuring

Police to focus on main priorities: patrol, investigations and dispatch.

The Walnut Creek Police Department will restructure in the short term in order to restructure in the long term.

The department is making reassignments in the next three to six months to have managers compile information on staffing and programs to form a plan for the next two to five years, said Police Chief Joel Bryden Tuesday. That information will contribute to the city's budget process, including staffing levels, to contribute to the long-term plan to be ready around June 1, Bryden said.

Bryden said the changes will focus on the department's main priorities:

  • patrol.
  • investigations.
  • dispatch.

The main changes, Bryden said, are to

  • community policing — the community policing team will refocus its efforts on downtown issues, including violence on weekend nights, homeless and transient issues and working with business groups.
  • reassignment of motorcycle officers — they will "backfill vacancies" in patrol teams.

has been effective, Bryden said: "We've done very well with more officers at night." Violence has been kept to a minimum, the chief said. Officers have been able to de-escalate some possible confrontations, he said.

Some WCPD planning in the next months will focus on a new radio system being deployed by police agencies around Contra Costa and Alameda counties. Some officers have been named acting lieutenants and acting sergeants to take over planning duties for one lieutenant on medical leave and another on military leave. "We've consolidated resources so we can get long-term planning," said Bryden.

Neighborhood Watch

The WCPD put out an email alert Tuesday that it was suspending officers' participation in Neighborhood Watch programs "until further notice," due to the department restructuring. "Our hope is that once the beginning of the fiscal year approaches we'll have a better idea of staffing levels and can identify programs to be reinstated in the fall," the alert stated.

"We no longer have the resources to be proactive," stated the Facebook page of the Walnut Creek Police Association, citing restructuring's effects on traffic enforcement, Rossmoor, crime prevention programs, community outreach and other programs.

"In the long term, we are looking at operations — what is the best way to police the community?" said Bryden.

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