Galen Kusic
Editor
Hard work and dedication does pay off after all.
In a press release, City Manager Hector De La Rosa announced the appointment of the new Rio Vista Police Chief, Greg Bowman.
“I have worked closely with Greg for the past eight months and am confident that Greg possesses the experience and skills to successfully lead the department”, said De La Rosa.
Before coming to Rio Vista three years ago, Bowman had previously worked for the Emeryville and Antioch police departments. He comes from a family of law enforcement, and knew since he was young he wanted to purse a career in police work.
Bowman grew up in Pittsburg and graduated from Pittsburg Senior High School. From there he attended the University of San Francisco where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, and St. Mary’s College where he obtained a Master’s Degree in Public Leadership while working full-time. He also holds Intermediate, Advanced, and Supervisory certifications from the Commission on Police Officers Standard Training program (P.O.S.T.).
Bowman has been in law enforcement for 18 years and attended what was then the Los Medanos Police Academy in Pittsburg. Starting his career as a dispatcher, he has worked in patrol, investigations, traffic, special events, as a Field Training Officer detective and supervisor/administrator.
He prefers to live in a small town where he can get to know the people he is working with, rather than working for a large agency where he is just a number. The three years he’s been working at the department, he feels he has had the opportunity to meet some great people and get involved in the community.
“I appreciate the support I have received from our community, the council, city management and my staff while I served as your Interim Police Chief,” said Bowman. “I am very pleased for the opportunity to take the next step as the Police Chief for the City of Rio Vista. I will work tirelessly to continue to provide the community with the best possible police services.”
When first appointed to Interim Chief, he expressed the most pressing needs from the community to be maintenance of service- continually providing the service to the community that they have grown accustomed to receiving. He states that historically staffing has been a factor and challenge for the department to maintain this.
“The biggest challenge as Interim was trying to maintain a standard of service delivery to the public, made difficult in part by the sergeant's position I had vacated but couldn't permanently fill,” said Bowman. “With the promotion, I'm looking forward to filling that position to better support the line staff with a solid supervisory presence.”
Having a broader scope of police work in general, Bowman relayed that he has been given added avenues on how to approach law enforcement. He conveyed that he understands policing as a whole much better than someone that has been limited to one specific area within the industry. His philosophy as an officer includes fairness and civil service to the community.
“As a Department, our team accomplished a number of new initiatives, while working with a decreased staff. We held crime rates to below those of 2010 levels, increased our presence in the schools , raised awareness with the youth for helmet and bicycle safety, planned for the upcoming Every 15 Minutes alcohol education program, and successfully implemented a Pharmacy Disposal program for the community – all while balancing budgetary constraints and maintaining a proactive presence in public,” said Bowman. “Our police officers, community service officer, volunteers and office staff made all of this possible with their hard work and dedication.”
Bowman is elated to start the position and take Rio Vista’s Police force to an entirely new level. Since Bowman has taken over, the community can feel a warmth and openness that did not exist before.
“As we move forward, I'm excited about the continued development of staff and further engaging the public,” he said. “We are working on implementing a Business Watch program, will be rolling out the Tip411 mass communication system within weeks, and developing an Explorer program for interested youth. We are hopeful this proactive engagement of the community, opening and maintaining those lines of communication will reward them with the sense of peace and safety they have come to expect and deserve.”
Chief Bowman is expected to take office on February 2. A swearing in ceremony will take place at the beginning of the City Council meeting on that same day at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend this ceremony.
The public is also invited to a “Meet the Police Chief” event on Friday February 3 at 6 p.m. at City Hall. |
