Six months into the job, Concord Police Chief says pandemic a challenge, not an obstacle

CONCORD, CA—As the city of Concord and Contra Costa County begins to reopen businesses and activities, I want to remind readers that the Concord Police Department never closed.

We have had to adapt our day-to-day activities in order to continue to give residents the service they deserve. Our men and women continue to do proactive police work, though it has a different look these days. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is the norm in law enforcement for the foreseeable future.

We have resumed radar patrols, as evidenced by several tickets for people doing 70 mph on Clayton Road. Even though children are not back in school yet, everyone needs to slow down for the safety of all.

Since my arrival in April, we have concluded a long-term investigation named Boulevard Blues. In partnership with the FBI’s Safe Street Task Force, we took numerous illegal firearms off the street. But more importantly, we solved four cold case homicides. As a result of the cooperation of all of our regional partners, four families finally have closure in the deaths of their loved ones.

Concord Connect app

In other news, please check out the new app on Concord Connect. It allows users to photograph, document and note the location of homeless encampments. This will make it easier and more systematic in getting Community Outreach Referral Engagement (CORE) out to homeless individuals in order to offer services. In addition, we will be able to better document our local encampments and any public safety issues they may present to the public (fires, human waste, needles, etc.).

Finally, please look at the Concord Police Department’s Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages for notices of upcoming “virtual” Coffee with a Cop events. We are trying to connect with residents as we would in normal conditions, but now we are doing so on a virtual platform (Zoom). Social media postings have the time and date of the various meetings, as well as how to log in and participate.

We really want to get back to hearing directly from you so that we can address some of the issues you are facing on a daily basis as well as longer term issues. Additionally, it will give the community an opportunity to meet some of our Community Impact Team (CIT) and Special Enforcement Team (SET) members who do the direct enforcement work.

It has been a whirlwind six months here, and I look forward to meeting more of you in person. I’m a regular coffee drinker in Todos Santos Plaza as well as at the Peet’s on Oak Grove. If you see me there or around town, feel free to say “hi” and introduce yourself. I am usually in uniform (with four stars on the collar).

I still have a lot of people to meet here, and I look forward to doing so.

Reach Concord Chief of Police Bustillos at mark.bustillos@cityofconcord.org