An interim police chief is set to take the reins of the Tracy Police Department.
Interim Chief Alex Neicu stepped in immediately to replace former Chief Larry Esquivel. Esquivel left two weeks ago due to a "personnel matter".
"I live here and I get to see the results day in and day out with my wife and my kids going to school here. What we do has an impact that I can see immediately," Neicu said.
Neicu has worked for the Tracy Police Department for 24 years and knows just how important his relationship with the community can be, no matter how small. He offered up a sticker to a young boy and his mother walking through the heart of downtown Tracy.
"It's one of those things I hope never goes away," he said. "Without understanding how the community sees us, it's really a blind spot for us. So, we have to have constant contact with the community."
Neicu is stepping in at an interesting time.
"There's no denying that change is difficult. No matter what and when, it's unexpected. Cchange just makes it that much harder. It's been hard on our department, but our people are resilient," Neicu said.
Not wasting anytime, he's drafted a 30-60-90 day plan to better target crime. Part of his plans include maintaining a quality of life in downtown Tracy that people have grown to expect. That, along with traffic and crime waves, are things he's focusing on in his plan.
"We look at those three elements and we see, what are the resources we have and how can we best use those resources to reduce crime?" Neicu explained.
He says they'll be pouring over crime data to provide faster responses to trends like car break-ins or mail thefts and he's also working to beef up his traffic unit to be there when complaints come up.
"There's going to be a handful of available officers who are going to work additional shifts, or part-of shifts, in addition to their original responsibilities, to just do traffic specific missions," he said.
Neicu tells ABC10 he is not trying to re-invent the wheel, but he's hoping to move forward in positive direction.
"I think that it's an opportunity for us to look at the way we've been doing things and build on some of our successes and maybe make adjustments through a new lens," he said.
The City of Tracy says it may take four to six months before they are ready to announce a permanent police chief.
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