By Sara Beth Williams–
Citrus Heights Police Department staff, alumni, friends and family took a walk down memory lane last week as they celebrated the department’s 20th anniversary.
Hundreds of guests attended a celebratory catered lunch, including current officers and staff, retirees, Citrus Heights City Council members, city staff, regional dignitaries, and many family and friends of the department.
The event was catered by local Mexican restaurant R Vita Cantina, and featured a color guard presentation, slideshows of photos of from the last two decades, and video messages from local leaders, retirees and regional partners, including messages from Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper, Congressman Ami Bera, Assemblyman Josh Hoover, and all Citrus Heights City Council members.
During the celebration, guests had the chance to visit and vote on their favorite 20th anniversary historical table display. Over a dozen tables showcasing history of the various departments within the Police Department were on display, including tables chronicling the history of the Office of the Chief, Animal Control Services, Volunteers, IMPACT, SWAT and POP teams, alumni, Drones, CSI, K9 units and more.
The luncheon also featured multiple speakers who congratulated the department on their success. Speakers included Senator Roger Niello, Citrus Heights City Manager Ash Feeney, Citrus Heights Mayor Marijane Lopez-Taff, former mayor and longtime City Councilmember, Jeanie Bruins, and Citrus Heights Police Chief Alex Turcotte, who has been with the department since its beginning.
Speakers from the department congratulated current officers who have remained for 20 years, saying, “These individuals worked hard in building something from the ground up. They helped shape the culture, standards, traditions, and reputation of this agency.”
Speakers also celebrated retirees and those who had moved on to positions in other jurisdictions, and lauded the department’s success in reducing crime by 50 percent and helping to revitalize and transform Sayonara Drive, once known as one of the most crime-riddled streets in the city.
Bruins played an “important role” in the milestones that have shaped Citrus Heights, including the formation of the Police Department, representatives of the Department said during the event.
The Citrus Heights Police Department was first established in June 2006, by original police chief Chris Boyd. Following the city’s incorporation in 1997, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office provided patrols through a contract with the newly formed city. Bruins said even that was a step up from just being part of the count previously.
But the cost of the contract became more and more over the years, until it became unsustainable, Bruins said. Before their next contract renewal date with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office arrived, Bruins said with the help of former City Manager Henry Tinkle, the city formed a committee of community members to evaluate various options. The committee ultimately recommended the city form their own police department, and the council voted to do just that.
Following the decision, the city had to find a police chief willing to build an entire department from the ground up, and after many interviews, Bruins said, the city hired police chief Chris Boyd.
“He had the undaunting task of completing a rounded police department within 18 months,” Bruins said. “True to form, Chris did it in six months. It was such an amazing task to start with nothing and create what we have in six months. We had a huge celebration with 2,500 people in attendance.”
Since then, the police department has grown and expanded, establishing multiple units and departments.
Over the years, the Citrus Heights Police Department has become an award winning agency. The police website lists a number of recognitions, including the James Q. Wilson award for excellence in community policing in 2012, and 2013, the APCO International Public Safety Communications Team of the Year award in 2012, and the MADD California Hero Award in 2012 and 2009.
CHPD operates its own emergency communications center and dispatch, handling calls for service entirely in-house, and just recently completed a full remodel of their communications center last summer. The agency also actively engages with the public through initiatives like the Police Activities League (PAL), National Night Out events, City Scoop, and more.
“Part of being a successful parent is launching your children and saying goodbye. Part of being a successful police department, is watching your talented people grow and be promoted and mature, and having to let them go,” Bruins said, honoring several police chiefs from other jurisdictions who were once part of the Citrus Heights Police Department.
Turcotte, current Chief of Police, was first hired as a police officer with the Citrus Heights Police Department, and was promoted to rank of Sergeant in 2007, and then Lieutenant in 2013. In 2018, he was promoted to Police Commander and had the opportunity to lead both the Operations Division and the Special Services Division. Turcotte was then promoted to Chief in 2021.
Turcotte began his career in law enforcement with the Ventura Police Department in 2001, where he worked as a patrol officer and a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team.
