Filled with energy and excitement, Redmond’s new top cop is ready to unleash his enthusiasm and expertise to the community.

For the first few weeks as Redmond’s new police chief, Ron Gibson focused on internal greetings, sitting down in small groups with all of his 127 new employees.

Now his focus turns to the community and strengthening the bond it has with the Redmond Police Department (RPD).

“The key to success is getting the community involved,” said Gibson, who was sworn in as the new chief June 1. “They can’t just turn to their police department and say, ‘you have to do it all.’ We will be there and we will do more than our fair share, but it’s a community effort.”

Gibson, who spent more than 30 years at the Colorado Springs Department before landing in Redmond, has met with several community organizations, including the Greater Redmond Chamber of Commerce, Eastside Domestic Violence Program and the security departments at the Redmond Town Center and Microsoft.

Some residents will have a chance to meet Gibson on Tuesday, Aug. 3 when he makes his neighborhood rounds as part of National Night Out Against Crime, an event where residents hold block parties as a way to connect with local city officials, law enforcement and their neighbors.

“It originally started as an outreach to neighborhood watch,” Gibson said of the event, now in its 27th year. “People come out of their houses, meet their neighbors and make a statement that we will be the eyes and ears of the police department in the community. … I plan on trying to get out to two or three of those community neighborhood watch groups, eat a little food and say hi to them as their new chief.”

Residents will be impressed with Gibson, who replaced longtime former chief Steve Harris, according to Redmond Police Commander Mark Hagreen.

“There are two things you have to have as a police chief: good character and a very, very high level of competence and he brings both of those to this department,” Hagreen said. “He is a very down-to-earth individual. He is very sincere and genuine, not pretentious. He is a very approachable leader, he is comfortable to talk to.”

COP CALLING CAME EARLY

Ever since he was a junior in high school, Gibson, who has extensive experience in police operations and administration, knew he wanted to work in law enforcement.

“It’s an honor to be in this job,” said Gibson, 52, who will be entering his 32nd year of police work in September. “It’s kind of cool to be part of an organization — whether it’s military or police or fire — that are willing to say, ‘I’ll go in harm’s way for someone else’. … Those types of people make it fun to come to work.”

Gibson joined the Army military police right after graduating from high school before becoming a cop in 1979 for the Colorado Springs Police Department. He worked his way up the ranks to Deputy Chief in 2007 before taking the Redmond chief job in June.

“I have loved every minute of it,” Gibson said of his police career. “I wouldn’t do anything else. I can’t think of anything else I want to do.”

COMMUNITY-BASED PHILOSOPHY

Gibson said he has four pillars that fortify his leadership philosophy. He said a strong police department, such as Redmond, needs to be a leading organization. He pointed out that Redmond already has a strong national reputation and has been on “the cutting edge of different programs.” He referred to the award-winning ATTACK Center (Auto Theft Tactical Analysis Center of King County), a regional auto theft analysis program created by RPD in late 2004.

Gibson said he wants RPD to continue to be a leader on the local, regional and national level.

“As I like to say, continue to do what we do best, steal other good ideas, and tweak them a bit so they have your flavor to it and use them here in Redmond.”

Besides being a leading organization, Gibson wants RPD to be a learning organization.

“We can’t be afraid to look back on how we’ve done things and say ‘could we have done them better?’ and really critically look at it as opposed to just saying ‘it was close enough.'”

The third pillar is service.

“The vast majority of police work is really serving the community and looking out for the community. I want people here to have an attitude of serving the community and to be involved in the community.

Gibson also wants RPD employees to be proactive and respective in the community.

“You treat people like a leader and act like a leader,” he said. “You are held accountable and you must be proactive. You shouldn’t walk past problems. You are expected to take some action.

“I want people empowered,” he continued. “I want people to give suggestions to make things better and if they’re not, they are not holding up their end of the bargain.”

So far, RPD employees like what they see in Gibson.

“I like Chief Gibson’s philosophy as it lends itself to the betterment of the department,” said Robert Clemmons, RPD’s Communications Division supervisor. “I think the department is fortunate in the caliber of people it has attracted and I believe under Chief Gibson’s direction we will continue to grow and develop, becoming an even stronger asset to the community and better place to work.”

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

Gibson said he has no plans for big changes at RPD, mostly “fine tuning.”

One thing he does want to do is to expand RPD’s pool of 45 volunteers, which will in turn improve the department’s customer service and efficiency.

More volunteers “helps you deliver more services, get more input from the community and the community becomes more involved in the police department, which is a good thing, and helps us leverage our existing resources by utilizing volunteers.”

With the help of more volunteers, Gibson said he plans to create a senior victim assistance team, which will reach out to the senior victims after a crime happens.

Volunteers will help a senior victim with tasks such as filing an insurance claim, calling a repairman if the home was burglarized or a car was prowled.

“Navigating that bureaucracy sometimes for seniors can be a bit of challenge if they don’t have a family member close by to help them out,” Gibson said.

Gibson said he also wants to expand the use of RPD’s Community Policing Advisory Board and do a better job of reaching out to a broader segment of the community, particularly the under populated groups.

Shawn Fitzpatrick, support services supervisor for RPD, said she thinks Redmond residents will be pleased with their new chief.

“I believe they will appreciate his visibility, willingness to listen, commitment to the community and being open to feedback,” she said. “I also believe he will take a more proactive stand for a safer community.”