How wannabe police leaders respond to real questions about public policy
Each candidate was asked the same five questions. Since Chief Robert Davis was also in attendance, his responses were also solicited.
Three candidates for the Elk Grove assistant police chief fielded questions at a public forum on Tuesday, May 13 at the city’s community center. Despite crossed messages from the Elk Grove’s public information office about the location of the event, your intrepid reporter managed to arrive in time for the first presentation.
Veteran police officers Mike Press, David Gutierrez, and Brian Schopf are vying for the position, which pays up to $270,000 per year. The assistant chief acts in the chief’s absence and has pretty much all his responsibilities and has recent city history has shown, is also groomed to be a successor.
I asked each candidate the same five questions. Since Chief Robert Davis was also in attendance, his responses were also solicited.
Hunting immigrants
The Trump administration has famously and cruelly detained, arrested, and deported immigrants, legal and undocumented, as well as outright naturalized citizens. This cruelty has also occurred under the Biden presidency.
Chief Davis said that “we don’t cooperate” with ICE and CBP agents. Press said that state law forbids such activities. Gutierrez cited SB54 which precludes it. Schopf said “we haven’t done that here.”
Still, migrant workers have been arrested and detained here in the Central Valley according to reports from the ACLU and CalMatters. https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/03/immigration-raids-rumors/
https://www.aclunc.org/sites/default/files/ICE_report_screen.pdf
Pedestrian deaths
Sacramento County has had a 62 per cent jump in pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries in recent years, according to the UC Berkeley California Active Transportation Safety Information Page (CATSIP.)
What can the police department do to prevent and eliminate these injuries and deaths? The chief and all three candidates recited the mantra of three “e’s”; namely, education, enforcement, and engineering.
However, the numbers persist in an upward trend since 2009. When pressed, Schopf nominated technology to indicate where enforcement needs to happen.
Affordable housing/homelessness
Chief Davis invoked the city’s outreach ordinance, and then said that housing is a question for the city council. Gutierrez relegated housing issues to the economic development director. Schopf repeated that police function is enforcement of the encampment ordinance. Press agreed.
However, lack of affordable housing leads to homelessness. Housing concerns led to the next question.
Budget limits
Despite submitting his annual written wish list, Chief Davis claimed that the city manager determines the police budget, which ties up over 70 per cent of the general fund. Press said, “we don’t decide.”
Gutierrez said that the capital improvement program consists of $370 million in expenditures (which dwarfs the general fund.) Schopf laid claim to the argument that the police budget is based upon community needs, and that the department does a social good in enforcing laws.
When asked if they’d consider a 10 percent reduction in general revenue funding to be transferred to social services, the response was a unanimous rejection.
SWAT/police militarization
Chief Davis resoundingly rejected the notion that the police department is militarized: “We’re not militarized.”
He said that the department has a “regional approach” to using military equipment. Press said that as far as he knew, the department only had two military items (both robots) which can be shared with other police agencies.
Gutierrez noted that SB481 requires reports to the city council about acquisition of military equipment; he did not respond to the question of continuing to militarize the police. Schopf denied police militarization is taking place: it’s “not in the realm of our goals.”
Selection of the assistant chief of police can be an important administrative process, but in this case it appears there is no range of opinion about public policy. Everybody seems to agree with everybody else.
The public forum revealed the bland, vanilla doldrums of groupthink, which explains why these and other problems persist despite our best efforts.
