Capt. Greg Tracey, the new Santa Rosa-area CHP commander, at times pulls patrol duty himself. Click to enlarge. Road Warrior photo
At age 52 and after 31 years as a police officer, Capt. Greg Tracey is eligible to retire. But the new CHP commander for the Santa Rosa area isn’t ready. He enjoys being a cop; it’s in his blood. Even though the muscular officer pulls a heavy administrative load being responsible for more than 80 officers, including supervisors, and nine civilian workers, he still gets a chance to hit the streets and work some patrol.
Tracey, who lives in Petaluma, recently talked about his job and the local CHP in an interview. Here’s the first of two parts:
Did he know in high school (Petaluma High graduate in 1976) that he wanted to be a police officer?
He says he actually knew in seventh or eighth grade and announced it one day at a career day at Petaluma Junior High School. “It probably wasn’t the most popular job in the ’70s, but it always appealed to me.”
From Petaluma High, he took police science classes at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces and after graduation started his police career with the University of California Police in 1980. He later transferred to the California State Police and joined the CHP in 1995 after the two agencies merged. He’s had multiple assignments, including supervising Govs. George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson’s San Francisco protection details, managing the CHP’s air operations unit, multi-disciplinary accident investigation team, commercial operations unit and Bay Area communications center and serving as a lieutenant in the Santa Rosa area.
He takes pride in providing service to the public. “I am a public servant. My first responsibility is to serve the public. I take no shame in saying that I am a servant of the public.” The CHP is “very service oriented,” but he adds quickly “that also means enforcement services” and not everyone necessarily sees that as a service to them.
What’s the greatest challenge facing the CHP in Sonoma County?
The state budget crisis, he says. With a hiring freeze on as the governor and Legislature fight over the budget, the number of CHP officers in Sonoma County is dwindling through attrition.
“You’re going to see fewer highway patrolmen in every area, not just Santa Rosa.”
And even once a budget is reached, he’s not going to be able to automatically replace officers. He says he has to justify every hire to officials in Sacramento. It’s forcing the local office to continually increase efficiency.
What’s the CHP doing about speeders in the Rohnert Park-Cotati construction zone — a frequent complaint among Road Warrior readers?
He readily concedes it’s a problem, noting that just that morning on the way to the CHP office in Rohnert Park he was going 55 in the slow lane in his personal car and other drivers were passing him one after another in the construction zone.
He says it’s a tough area for enforcement with few safe places to watch for speeders and few safe places to pull them over. Last week, a team of CHP officers stopped a number of speeders, and it’s something he plans to do “as we can.” A CHP radar trailer also has been set up to remind drivers to watch their speed.
Tracey suggests that if you see a “grievious violation,” call the CHP with the license plate number, and a warning letter will be sent out to the owner.
How about cell phone use by officers? While it’s legal for them to use them in the course of their job, some readers doubt that it’s always official business.
Tracey says he’s concerned about the image officers project while on duty, and he assumes if a CHP officer is on a cell phone, it’s official business. But he says officers are reminded of the law.
A common complaint he gets when out speaking in the community is why officers don’t use their turn signals when changing lanes. They should use them, he says, although it’s not always necessary if drivers can easily switch lanes without possibly affecting traffic.
What’s his pet peeve while driving?
Littering, he said quickly. Throwing cigarettes out the window. “It’s the lack of civility,” adding, “Rude drivers, that’s my pet peeve.”
He says he doesn’t understand why drivers can’t be just nice to each other. “Why get all worked up about it. If you’re late, it’s your fault, you should’ve started earlier.”
Tomorrow: The secret to not getting a ticket
To read the story on Tracey’s appointment, CLICK HERE.
