Police Chief leaving Menlo Park Police Chief leaving Menlo Park (December 07, 2005)

** Chris Boyd will form a new police department in Citrus Heights.

By Rory Brown

Almanac Staff Writer

Chris Boyd, who has been Menlo Park's chief of police for more than three years, will leave the force January 2 to head a new police department in the city of Citrus Heights, a Sacramento suburb of 88,000 residents.

Chosen from a field of 47 applicants, he will take charge of forming the new department for a city that has been contracting for law-enforcement services with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

Chief Boyd, 39, is leaving a force that he has been a member of for 15 years, serving as patrol officer, gang task force officer, sergeant and commander before being appointed chief in 2002. He has been a Menlo Park resident for 16 years.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Chief Boyd. "It's very rare to have the ability to start your own police department."

Chief Boyd will be the ninth officer to leave Menlo Park's force this year.

Most of the departed employees were veteran officers, and several took lateral or lower-ranking jobs with the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. Former Cmdr. Greg Rothus left the department to become police chief in San Carlos.

One officer who resigned -- Sgt. Eric Cowans -- returned to the Menlo Park force several weeks ago.

The record-breaking number of resignations in the first eight months of this year raised questions about management, officer morale and the drop in experience level in the department. From 2000 to 2004, the number of yearly resignations ranged from zero to four. Fully staffed, the department has 50 sworn officers.

Chief Boyd said his leaving has nothing to do with the resignations, and that he has "no concerns whatsoever" about the state of the Menlo Park force.

"I will stay in command until January 2, focusing on current projects and initiatives," he said. "The commanders are qualified and prepared to transition the department, and fill the role of acting chief."

City Manager David Boesch said the department's two senior commanders, Terri Molakides and Bruce Goitia, will split duties as the interim chief of police while the city conducts a search for a new chief.

The search should take about two to four months, Mr. Boesch said. The process, he said, will include input from members of the police department, city staff and an outside recruiting specialist to "fashion the profile of [Chief Boyd's] successor."

"This will be an open recruitment process," he said. "There is no one I have in mind to focus on and ultimately appoint."

Mr. Boesch said Chief Boyd informed him several weeks ago that he was a finalist for the Citrus Heights position. Chief Boyd will not be part of the recruitment process for a new chief, the city manager said.

Chief Boyd said he anticipates at least two, if not all three, of the department's commanders will be considered to fill his position.

He said he doesn't know if members of the Menlo Park force have any interest in joining the new department in Citrus Heights, but said it would not surprise him.

In Citrus Heights, Chief Boyd will authorize the hiring of every officer -- approximately 120 people -- in the new department, according to Citrus Heights City Manager Henry Tingle.

"Every single employee hired in the police department is [Chief Boyd's] responsibility," Mr. Tingle said. "He will select the entire force, and we plan to have the department up and running by July 1."

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is contracted to continue law-enforcement services in Citrus Heights through December 2006, but the city hopes to pull out of the contract on July 1, Mr. Tingle said.

Mr. Tingle cited flexibility and cost-cutting as reasons for creating the city's own police department. Citrus Heights will save $1.5 million to $3 million in law-enforcement costs for the "next couple of years," he said.

Chief Boyd will earn a base salary of $154,791 in Citrus Heights, and the city will cover all of his retirement costs, according to Mr. Tingle. His base salary in Menlo Park is $157,000, but the city covers only 90 percent of his retirement costs.

In late August, Chief Boyd was contacted by Bob McNichol, a member of Management Policing Consulting (MPC), a Belmont-based consultant hired by Citrus Heights to help recruit a chief as well as commanders, lieutenants and a technical services manager for the city's new police department.

Mr. McNichol, who attended graduate school with Chief Boyd at the College of Notre Dame (now called Notre Dame de Namur University) in Belmont, said he wanted to make sure Chief Boyd was aware of the opportunity.

After sifting through applications, Mr. McNichol, a former Hillsdale chief of police, and the other two members of MPC, recommended five applicants, including Chief Boyd, to Mr. Tingle.

After taking a written test, appearing before three separate panels for questioning, and an interview with Mr. Tingle, Chief Boyd was the city's top choice.

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