Police Chief Tim Neal has been named Pleasanton Weekly’s Man of the Year for 2006.
Neal, 52, launched his career as a rookie cop in Union City right after graduating from San Jose State University in 1976 with a degree in Criminal Justice and Administration. He was promoted several times and stayed 11 years before joining the Mountain View force, where he became a captain. After 10 years, he was hired as police chief in Tracy, leaving that position two years later to accept an offer from Pleasanton.
Determined to put “a human face” on the police organization, Neal has made community relations a focus of his work here, starting the highly successful Citizens Police Academy and later, the Teen Citizens Police Academy. He also assigned an officer to work with a citizens group to write the city’s Youth Master Plan, which the City Council adopted, and has assigned resource officers to both high schools as an outreach to teachers, students and their parents.
“As police chief in Pleasanton, my goal has been to make sure everyone–teenagers, seniors and all the others–see our officers throughout the city and wherever they are,” Neal said. “I want them to drive by the police station and look with pride on us as people and a place where they can come to get help if needed.”
Even as he improved community relations with the police department, Neal also put his extensive experience to work in aggressively protecting Pleasanton from crime and pursuing those who commit it. His record shows he has been successful.
During his seven years as chief, crime has steadily decreased. Twenty years ago, with a population of 45,370, serious crimes in what law enforcement agencies call Part I totaled 1,626, which meant 35.8 people per 1,000 in the population were victims on a crime in this category. Last year, with a population of 70,650 in the city police force’s coverage area, Part I crimes totaled 1,660, dropping the rate to 23.5 people per 1,000. In other words, Pleasanton residents in 1985 were 33 percent more likely to be victims of a serious crime than in 2005. And, the rate is down again during the first nine months of 2006.
Neal has also fostered better relations between his office and the police union, moving quickly when he took over to grant the union’s request for a four-day work week of 10 hour daily shifts. That actually helped the force by placing more officers on duty during evening hours when extra law enforcement is needed.
When he took over seven years ago, Neal worked with the Police Union to change shifts so that most officers work 10 hours a day, with three consecutive days off each week. Those new hours also allowed police to double up on the evening rush hour and weekend party times when they encounter those most problems, again patrolling the busiest streets to increase visibility as well as to help if trouble occurred.
His work with high-tech companies in Mountain View provided seasoned experience for the growing technical expertise required these days in police work, and Neal maintains a close relationship with the high tech companies in Pleasanton for regular updates of information, software and equipment.
Police cruisers are now equipped with laptop computers, giving officers the ability to search databases and communicate across the city while on patrol. Officers regularly patrol streets and hotel parking lots, using their laptops to check on suspicious vehicles and license plates.
Neal was just 16 and a student at Cupertino High School when he befriended several Santa Clara city traffic officers at an El Camino Real gas station where he worked part-time.
“I remember Anton Morec, who is now a retired police sergeant, talking about how great his job was, with something new and different happening every day,” Neal said. “I was hooked and decided to make police work a career.”
Although he worked with the park district and the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department as an intern, it wasn’t until he graduated and turned 21 that he was ready to apply for a police job. He wanted to work in Santa Clara, but with Vietnam vets filling the ranks, he ended up No. 151 on the wait list. When Union City called to schedule an interview, Neal had to look up the city on a Bay Area map. Then he got lost driving there, arriving late for the test. Fortunately, the city manager let him start taking the exam, although she refused to grant him and make-up time. Neal finished ahead of the others anyhow, scored high, and was hired. Within days, he was on the way to a state police academy in Eureka, where he became friends with two other rookies: Randy Ulibarri and Michael Holland. Ulibarri is now the chief of police in Union City; Holland has just retired as deputy chief of police in Oakland.
“Morec of the Santa Clara police department was right when he told me I’d never be bored in this job, that every day would be different,” Neal said. “I’ve been shot at, cussed out and slapped around, worked long overnight shifts and on numerous investigations. I learned quickly that in police work you never know what to expect when you stop a motorist or burst through a door into a suspected crack house. There’s a chunk of my right arm that was taken out when I was shot during a drug bust.”
Still, Neal made community relations a priority in his police work. While on patrol on Thanksgiving Day in the 1970s, he spotted an elderly woman standing in the street taking pictures of her family, which was standing in front of her home’s garage door. Neal turned on his squad car’s flashing lights, got out and approached the woman, while her family thought he was going to order her off the street. Instead, Neal took the camera, had the woman join her family, and took a series of photos that they’ll no doubt remember for a long time.
“That’s how we get people to think better of the uniform we wear and what we do,” Neal said.
As a captain in Mountain View, Neal worked with the Shoreline Amphitheater to curb drug trafficking, which was hurting its reputation as a safe place for teenagers and families. Since he knew dealers would flee if they or their spotters saw cops, Neal had some officers dress as dealers and work the crowds in search of buyers. Then, uniformed officers rushed with lots of noise and fanfare, handcuffed the “dealers” and hauled them away. It wasn’t long before regular dealers decided Shoreline and Mountain View were just too risky to ply their trade and moved elsewhere.
Mountain View is also where Neal was picked to serve on Secret Service details that guarded presidents Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton during visits they made to the Silicon Valley. Photos of Neal with the presidents adorn his office.
A 26-year Pleasanton resident, Neal and his wife Robin raised their two children Scott and Katie here during most of the years he served with the four police departments. Robin works as a Property and Evidence Technician for the Fremont Police Department.
Chief Neal said he is retiring now because he’s reached the eligibility level–30 years on the job and at least 50 years old–in a state retirement system that penalizes survivors if the employee dies before retiring. Neal, who has agreed to stay until his successor is on the job, said he may teach once he’s retired, and will also continue working with philanthropic and nonprofit organizations. Currently, he is vice president of the board of directors of Hope Hospice and plans to continue that role.
“Tim is an exceptional police chief,” said City Manager Nelson Fialho. “In his years with Pleasanton, he developed strong relationships with the community, regional law enforcement agencies and the Pleasanton Unified School District.”
“His ability to foster relationships and introduce innovative programs will be his legacy,” Fialho continued. “These are programs like the School Resources Officers, DARE, COPPS TV and the use of volunteers to patrol the community. He is passionate about Pleasanton and the law enforcement profession. As a resident, he cares about protecting and preserving our great quality of life.”
Former City Manager Deborah McKeehan, who hired Neal in 1999, agreed.
“Tim Neal was the right person at the right time to be Police Chief in Pleasanton,” she said. “He came to us with a strong background in law enforcement and management and he was already an active Pleasanton resident with a thorough knowledge of the city. It made for a very smooth transition as a key member of the cityÃs management team.
“During his tenure Tim can be extremely proud of his role in leading the Police Department to be even more responsive to the community needs and ideas than in the past,” she added. “He took a particular interest in making the department more youth friendly. He was a solid professional yet brought a common sense style of policing. His approachability and his sense of humor made him accessible to everyone.”
Fifty applicants submitted paperwork before the Dec. 8 deadline to be considered for the Pleasanton police chief’s job. A recruiting agency is now screening the resumes and holding initial interviews with some of them. The recruiter’s final recommendations will be sent to Fialho next Thursday. Fialho and several others will interview the finalists on Jan. 12, with Fialho expected to announce the selection by mid-January. Three of the applicants hold key positions on the Pleasanton force.
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