New Elk Grove police chief aims to expand homeless service, use technology to stop crime
Elk Grove Police Chief Bobby Davis started his new job this week, discussing his plans to continue the legacy of his predecessor by relying on technology to respond to spiking crime in the Sacramento suburb with a booming real estate market.
“I think leveraging technology to make sure that we are policing at our best levels is something that is extremely important to me, because it allows us to put resources into other places,” Davis told The Sacramento Bee in an interview Monday, his first day at his new job. “It gives us an opportunity to be more community-engaged when we have the technology to be free in other areas of policing.”
Davis, a 25-year veteran in law enforcement, also wants to help the city provide resources for its homeless population, respond to national trends like the increase in domestic violence, combat thefts and other property crimes and further expand his department’s community engagement by creating a youth services division.
He became the Elk Grove Police Department’s fifth police chief and the the city’s first Black police chief when he was sworn-in during a private ceremony last week. The department will host a promotion ceremony April 21 in which the public will be invited to attend; the details of the event were being finalized this week.
Davis said he was raised knowing that being fair and treating people equally is a way to find success; his father worked as a detective for the Sacramento Police Department.
“My entire life, I have had opportunities that had been born from hard work, fairness, respect and an understanding that I will have opportunities because I’m unafraid of working hard to earn them,” Davis said. “And it doesn’t matter who I am or what I am, I’ve earned the right to be a part of this organization as its leader... I’m proud to be who I am and be the chief of police for the city of Elk Grove.”
Davis leads a department with 133 sworn officers and 91 civilian employees. The department has authorized jobs for 151 sworn officers and 111 civilian employees.
He replaced Police Chief Timothy Albright, who retired after 16 years in Elk Grove and a total of 32 years in law enforcement. Before joining the Elk Grove department in March 2020, Davis was a captain at the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
Davis worked for the Sheriff’s Office for 24 years, where he oversaw the Professional Standards, Patrol, Investigations, and Court Security divisions. He also worked as a public information officer and as the assistant police chief in Rancho Cordova, where the Sheriff’s Office is contracted to provide police services.
Services for the homeless
The new police chief said one of the biggest public safety concerns Elk Grove is facing is ensuring people experiencing homelessness can have a place where they can feel safe. But he said that also means ensuring other Elk Grove residents know what the city’s strategy on this issue is and why they’re doing it.
“How can we help them? How can we provide services? How can we get them to a place that they’re comfortable or that they’re gonna be more safe because that ensures that our entire community is gonna be safe,” Davis said.
The city has a variety of homeless services, including the Elk Grove Homeless Assistance Resource Team. Davis said all of the city’s departments, including police, are tackling this and other concerning issues with a unified effort.
“We work under the umbrella of the city of Elk Grove. Our departments, while we have different names, we’re all one and we all work together to ensure that that is our message,” Davis said. “And I feel very fortunate to be part of that.”
Davis said his department also wants to focus on national trends, such as the rise in domestic violence. The new police chief said the city needs to have community advocates offering victims with information and tools on how they escape that violence and live in a safer environment, and having these advocates work closely with officers to help them recognize when these victims need help in finding a way out.
Technology to combat property crimes
And he said his department needs to continue relying on technology to combat property crimes, such as theft. The monitoring in the department’s Real Time Information Center helps officers focus on areas with higher spikes in crime.
The center, which has been operating since summer 2019, is a control room that can monitor video from city cameras. This includes traffic cameras, building cameras, camera trailers and city buses.
“Some of those neighborhoods where we see hotspots, we’re able to utilize resources based on technology to get (officers) out in those neighborhoods when we suspect or believe it may take place,” Davis said. “And do it in a way that is cost effective and efficient when it comes to tools and personnel, ultimately in the end saving us money as a city when we police in our neighborhoods.”
Davis is a life-long Sacramento-area resident. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and is in the process of obtaining a master’s degree in criminal justice. Davis has completed the FBI executive and command leadership courses, Senior Management Institute for Police-Executive Leadership Studies and the National Criminal Justice Leadership Institute Academy.
Davis serves on community-based programs including the Special Olympics, My Brother’s Keeper Initiative, the California Peace Officers Association Board of Directors and the Reduction of African American Child Death Review Board which established the Sacramento-area Black Child Legacy Campaign.
Work with Black Child Legacy Campaign
The police chief said his time with the Black Child Legacy Campaign, which is working to reduce youth deaths in that community, has been a significant portion of his community work since 2014. Davis said it allows him to participate in a community effort that offers resources to families in crisis.
“We want to be a resource for all of the people in our communities… and I have been proud to be part of that,” Davis said. “It’s something that I think is important for our communities and important for the folks in our community to see that the police are the community and the community are the police.”
Davis wants to expand his department’s community engagement by establishing a youth services division and offering programs, such as a police activities league. The department has had youth sports programs before, but he said it hasn’t been for more than 10 years.
The police chief said his department also is going to host “Barbecue in the Beats,” where officers can grill hot dogs for residents, and offer students backpacks in the fall for the upcoming school year. He said he wants to increase opportunities for the public to engage with officers outside of a crisis situation.
“Things that will bring those kids out, so we can have really good engagements with the community, with the kids, with their parents,” Davis said. “But we all break bread, and we do it together.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
