[Sly Fox]

From the Tri-Valley Herald in California:

Chief officially working for city
Holder shapes new San Ramon department
By Roman Gokhman, STAFF WRITER

SAN RAMON — Scott Holder just got a promotion, and now he needs a vacation.

Chief of police since last year, he is now also officially a city of San Ramon employee, as the city switches from a department run by the Contra Costa County Sheriffs Department to a department that runs itself.

The 43-year-old, who is the youngest of the Tri-Valley police chiefs, now has less than a year to buy equipment, create a budget and comply with state regulations as he creates a new entity.

We are taking on everything from risk management, liability, personnel, hiring, developing policies or procedures, evidence, property storage, communications ..., he trails off. And when I say we, I mean me, until I can hire some people.

Holder moved with his parents to California when he was in high school. The son of a Tennessee Baptist minister, he was influenced by a family friend who was a deputy with the Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Department.

But after graduating from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., with a political science degree, he found himself working construction jobs back in Santa Barbara in 1985.

Thats when he applied and was hired as a deputy with that countys sheriffs department, and after two years he decided he needed a change of scenery because the cost of living in Santa Barbara was too high.

The Contra Costa County Sheriffs Department hired him in 1987, and he has been there ever since. He was stationed at the county jail in Martinez and was a patrol officer for Orindas contracted police department before he was assigned to San Ramon — and its contracted department — in 1995.

The stay was short. In 1996, he was reassigned to the jail and, in 1999, he was promoted to sergeant and appointed to a state gang task force.

Danville Police Chief Chris Wenzel, who worked for many years alongside Holder, called him a dedicated performer.

He hasnt been a managerthat long, but he is one of those people who will challenge himself to do the best that he can, Wenzel said.

Wenzel recalled a case in the early 1990s, when both worked in Orinda. An officer pulled over two men who had just robbed a bank, but the officer didnt realize that and was about to let them go. Holder realized who they were and the men were arrested.

That was a big case, Wenzel said.

In 2000, Holder was sent back to San Ramon as a patrol sergeant.

I wanted to come back, he said. After working in other areas of the county ... I realized there was no better place to work.

He remained with the department until 2004, when the assistant jail commander position opened up at the jail in Marsh Creek. He was again promoted, this time to lieutenant.

Former chief Kathy Samuels retired in 2005 and Holder was brought back to San Ramon once again as the new chief. He also became the first in the department to climb the ladder from officer to chief. Last month he officially became a city employee.

I am the seventh chief in this department. I had worked for five out of the previous six, so I have knowledge about how each ran the department, Holder said.

Its a fantastic opportunity for me to create and build a new police department. At the same time, Im leaving an agency I respect, and Im leaving a lot of friends behind.

He said he would have been more financially secure by staying with the sheriffs department through the end of his career.

It was not an easy decision, he said.

Holders decision was helped by his connection to the community. He was married last year to his wife, Karen, a prosecutor for the county. He also has three children — Matt, 13, Jason, 28 and Erika, 15 — and he has coached their baseball and football teams for 16 years.

He recently retired from coaching duties to spend more time on his job.

San Ramon H. Abram Wilson said the city chose Holder because he knows the city and has a rapport with the community.

The transition will be much easier with him, Wilson said. We could have found five to 10 people just as qualified for the job, but we like him as a person.

With Holder as police chief, the department has made significant improvements. In his first year on the job, there has been a sharp increase in officer-initiated calls for service, which means officers are on the street more and are staying visible.

They are being productive, he said.

And through the first five months of this year, compared to the same period in 2005, DUI arrests have increased from 65 to 107, and vehicle thefts have dropped by nearly 50 percent, he said.

(Holder is) unique because he has been there through all of the phases of San Ramon growing, Wilson said.

As the city continues to grow, Holder wants to keep providing the same level of service. But before that, he has to get the department off the ground.

Its a tremendous task, and I just need some help, he said. Luckily, its on the way.

Roman Gokhman can be reached at (925) 416-4849 or at rgokhman@trivalleyherald.com.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyh ... ci_4315206