New chief seeks community vigilance
After a month on the job, Clayton’s new police chief says he’s getting a good feel for things.
A retired Sheriff’s Department Commander, Chris Wenzel is no stranger to small town law enforcement having served seven years as Danville’s Chief of Police. “Except for the difference in tax base, the two towns are very much alike.”
Both cities are extremely safe with property crime and traffic topping the list of major issues. He plans to make an all-out appeal to the community for extra vigilance in spotting potential crime. “If you see something strange, call us,” he said. “That could be as simple as a van parked in front in a neighborhood that you haven’t seen before or as complicated as seeing a radical change in behavior of someone you know.”
“Once that call is made, we have to investigate,” he explained. “It’s the law.
Wenzel will be keeping a close watch on activity in The Grove and other city parks. He wants to enlist more parental support in addressing vandalism and out-of-control youth. “Bad behavior isn’t a law enforcement issue,” he said. “It’s a parenting issue. Our officers need to be out patrolling, not raising someone’s kid.”
Wenzel holds a B.A. in Criminal Justice from Sacramento State University. His career with the Sheriff’s Department began in 1987. His assignments include the stint in Danville, Commander at the Marsh Creek Detention Facility, Watch Commander in the Office of Emergency Services and Commander of Administrative Services, a post he held until his retirement in 2011.
He describes himself as “service-driven with a sense of humor, sometimes impatient, and committed to making things work.”
Retirement was not his idea, he says. He and 50 of his colleagues were given the option of early retirement in April of 2011 or taking a 17 percent cut in their pensions. He is supporting his mother in an assisted living facility and has two kids to put through college. He couldn’t afford the cut. So he and the others took the early retirement, only to find months later that the move wasn’t legal. But, by that time, he says “there was some bitterness…it was like a stab in the back.”
He wasn’t ready to retire, he said. So, when the Clayton chief’s job opened up late last summer, he jumped at it.
Wenzel lives in Livermore with two teenagers and his wife who is a dog-trainer. The family owns two champion Labradors. He coaches youth sports and serves on the Livermore Valley School Board.
Wenzel replaces former chief Chris Thorsen who left in August to head up the newly formed Oakley Police Department.