Meet the Chief


A Homecoming for Walter Tibbet


By Keri Hayes Troutman
Photography by Craig Merrill

Alameda police chief Walter Tibbet’s recent move from his position as a San Jose police captain has been a sort of homecoming for the 55-year-old East Bay native. Tibbet began his career as a 21-year-old police officer in Alameda back in 1972. Though he left after eight years for the San Jose police department, he retained friendships in Alameda and always hoped to come back one day.
    “To have the opportunity to take on a leadership role back in Alameda has always been a dream in the back of my mind,” says Tibbet.
    Tibbet and his wife, Brenda, recently bought a home on Bay Farm Island. Though a lot has changed since his departure 26 years ago, Tibbet says he’s pleased to see that the community in Alameda has only grown stronger. “There’s a sense of family and connection with the community here that you don’t see in a lot of places,” he says. “That’s definitely one of the things that made me want to come back—I’ve always enjoyed having that personal connection with people,” he says. “I also didn’t really realize until I came back how much I’ve missed being close to the water and having such great views of San Francisco.”
    Chief Tibbet has a lot less ground to cover in Alameda, a 15-square-mile city with 76,000 people, than Capt. Tibbet did in San Jose, a 177-square-mile city with just under a million people. But Alameda’s smaller scale gives the police department a chance to provide a different type of service, says Tibbet, who likes doing full-service police work. “Unlike bigger cities, we can take a call and rather than worry about just going to the next call and the next, we can spend time with people to really address the symptoms of the issue and the long-term effects,” he says. “We have the time and the contacts.”
    Tibbet says the sense of community within Alameda translates across city services offices where many workers are closely connected. “We have such an active role in problem solving in our community that goes beyond just writing tickets or enforcing rules or laws,” he says.
    Despite Alameda’s size, the city is affected by the issues that afflict larger municipalities. “Everywhere we’re seeing increases in youth violence,” says Tibbet. “We’ve been very fortunate in Alameda in that our crime rates have remained very low, but we’re not immune to the issues that lead to youth violence.”
Indeed, the past year has proven that Alameda does reflect the society beyond its borders. There have been three homicides,  one of which was an accidental shooting by a 3-year-old. Tibbet says, “Long-term drug abuse and mental health issues came into play in two of the violent acts.” Even though the murders put Alamedans on edge, the fact that overall crime in the city is down about 1 percent since last year should provide some solace.
    Tibbet is optimistic that his commitment to continuing the Alameda department’s tradition of providing full-service police work will help address youth violence in the community. “Things like connecting families with social services and working with schools to provide mentorship to young people can go a long way towards addressing the roots of youth violence,” he says.
    Public agencies throughout California have faced budget problems in the last five years, and Alameda’s have been no exception. The number of sworn officers in Alameda has gone down from 111 to 99. “We’re fortunate to just be coming out of those cycles,” says Tibbet. “But that’s certainly been a hindrance on our ability to provide services.”
    Among Tibbet’s goals for his tenure in Alameda is to make sure the department takes advantage of the latest technology. “It’s a challenge,” he says, “because technology is changing so rapidly, and we rely so much on it, but we need to stay on top of the latest trends.” And he says he intends to get to know the people in the community more personally.
    Tibbet is also very excited about the department’s Citizens Academy, which gives Alameda officers a chance to share with the public the challenges of their jobs and to make connections with the community. The department offers a youth academy as well.
    In his free time, Chief Tibbet plays golf and is an avid sports fan. He and his wife are looking forward to ferrying to San Francisco to see the Giants play. Tibbet learned to play golf on Alameda’s courses back in the 1970s, so he’s excited to get back to them again. He also spends time walking on Alameda’s many trails.
“Growing up in the East Bay and attending college at Cal State Hayward, I’ve always been entrenched in this community,” says Tibbet. “And I’m just thrilled to be back.”