Chief Craig Steckler shares a philosophy with most Public Safety Officers: any crime is too much crime. Although the inability to have a truly crime-free community is a common frustration in his line of work, Chief Steckler believes that crime prevention efforts and citizen participation are essential to any successful crime reduction plan. To prevent crime, the Police Department has implemented many community police partnerships. Chief Steckler's goals for these partnerships are to educate citizens, and in turn the Police Department, about how to be on the lookout for criminal activity, to report it before it happens, and to help deter young people from criminal activity by channeling their energy into education, recreation and positive community activities.

Chief Steckler received a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University Los Angeles in 1975 and did graduate work in Public Administration at Cal State Fullerton. He has continued his education with attendance and graduation from the F.B.I. Academy, Class 128, and the California Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission Command College, Class 2. He joined the Fremont Police Department as Deputy Chief in 1986, and was appointed Police Chief in 1992. Prior to that he served as Chief of Police in the City of Piedmont, and in various capacities with the Police Department in San Clemente from 1968 to 1980. He is co-author of two college textbooks: Fundamentals of Police Administration and Written and Interpersonal Communications in Law Enforcement. Chief Steckler lives in Fremont, is a Past President in the Niles Rotary, and serves on the Board of Directors of SAVE, a local domestic violence shelter. Chief Steckler also is the [2000] Past President of the California Police Chiefs Association, and a past member of the Board of Officers of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

What does the Police Chief do?
I am ultimately responsible to the City Manager, City Council, and Citizens for delivering a full range of police services to the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This entails the management of an organization with over 300 full time employees, another 200 volunteers, and a budget that exceeds $55 million per year.

Is there such a thing as a typical day?
There really is no "typical" day for me in Fremont, nor is there a "typical" day between what I do and what a neighboring Chief of Police may do in any given day. The issues and problems are unique to each city depending on the size of the city and the demographics. I do attend a lot of meetings, many dealing with our basic mission of crime suppression, prevention and arrests. Many other meetings deal with how the Police Department works with other City Departments to meet the basic mission of the City of Fremont.

What motivated you to become a Public Safety Officer?
From my earliest memories I wanted to be a Police Officer. Maybe it was the influence of television or movies. When I was younger it was the fascination of the uniform and arresting "bad guys." As I grew older my desire came more from the perspective of helping the community and making it a better and more livable area in which to raise a family.

What do you like most about your job?
Probably the most desirable aspect of my job is the ability to work with others and to help set the course and direction of the organization. The evolving movement of the Fremont Police Department to Community Policing started with the previous Chief of Police. It is the philosophy of policing that I feel has the best chance for success, here in Fremont, and carrying on this effort has been most satisfying. We have been able to take the model developed by the previous Chief of Police and build upon it to what we are evolving to today.

What do you like the least?
I think I suffer the same frustrations as any other Police Officer. Any crime is too much crime. The inability to have a truly "crime free" community is the part I like least. In the day-to-day operations there are just too many meetings!

What do you like about Fremont?
This is a wonderful community with a rich history of individualism that came together over 50 years ago to become what today is Fremont. We have a very culturally diverse community, which leads to unique challenges as well as rewards. We are a young community, as far as being one city, and have not experienced the decline of many of the other cities our size throughout the United States. We are in the "Silicon Valley" and are able to access technology and bring that technology to bear on our everyday efforts. This makes working and living here enjoyable.

What do you want residents to know about the Police Department?
We continually involve members of our community in the operations of their Police Department. We have over 200 volunteers working in virtually every Division and Unit of the Department. We have a volunteer program for our younger citizens with the Police Explorer Post, we have Reserve Police Officers, and then our regular volunteer program which runs the entire age gamut from school age to retired citizens. We continue to offer two citizens academies each year, which are designed to introduce citizens to the inner workings of their Police Department. I also work with an advisory board of citizens. The citizens of Fremont also need to know that we hire only the finest quality personnel to serve and protect them.

How do you interact with other City Departments?
The Police Department is only one "cog" in the wheel called the City of Fremont. We could not exist without the cooperation and collaboration of the other City Departments. We have a special affinity with the Fire Dept. since we both provide vital emergency services. Our relationship with the other departments is critical to the overall success of the City. Recreation and Maintenance keeps our fleet operational as well as our physical plant clean and functioning. They also provide recreation programs for the youth of our community, and by doing this they are keeping them busy with activities that are creative and healthy. Development and Environmental Services is one of the Departments we work most closely with, especially the Code Enforcement Division. In the Community Policing model we try to become problem solvers and not just responders. Many of the issues which neighbors complain about to the police are not truly "criminal" in nature, or are of a very minor violation of the law such as abandoned vehicles, unkept houses, noisy neighbors, unlicensed home business, trash container violations, etc. These types of violations rest more in the Code Enforcement element of DES, but we work closely with that Department often times working a case together in order to eradicate a neighborhood problem.

What challenges lie ahead for the Police Department?
Our youth is the primary challenge. We need to accommodate them with recreational activities, jobs and education. Traditionally young men between the ages of 15 - 25 years of age are the predominate offenders of criminal statutes. If they have their energy redirected to recreational activities and jobs, it reduces the chance of them becoming involved in criminal activity. The economy is another issue, which is now, and will continue to be, an issue. When I first became a Chief of Police in another city, in 1980 the budget process started around March or April and was completed in June. Today the budgeting process is a year-round effort. Funding for cities has become much more volatile in the last decade. We are certainly tied more to the business cycle, with a larger portion of our revenues coming from sales tax than the more traditional property or other taxes. Today it is much more difficult to pass any new taxes and the citizens are demanding, and rightfully so, that we give them the best "bang for the buck." But we will continue to work in partnership with the community to address Fremont's challenges.

What civic activities or service organizations do you participate in?
I am the Past President of the Niles Rotary Club, as well as Past President of the Tri-Cities Salvation Army Advisory Board. I am a member of the Board of Directors of S.A.V.E., a local domestic violence shelter and education and support program for victims of domestic violence and I am active in my parish church. I am a past president of the California Police Chiefs Association and remain active in the Association as chair of the Communications and Membership Committees.

What do you do for fun?
What time I have left is taken up mostly by an avid love of the game of golf. My wife, Casey, owns a small antique business here in Fremont. So much of my free time is spent "antiquing" or repairing, cleaning and transporting antiques for her business. We also love to collect antiques for our home and mostly concentrate on Art Deco period pieces. I do a lot of gardening on the weekends during the spring and summer months, which is a nice way to relieve stress. I don't get to the movies very often, but I do enjoy reading novels. I have read all of Tom Clancy's works, as well as Grisham's books. I have also co-authored two college textbooks, published by Prentice-Hall, so generally I have two books going at the same time. One for reading pleasure, and the second for research or professional purposes. I do get a chance to travel some with my wife Casey. We have been to England, Scotland, Wales, France, Australia, and Canada, as well as many parts of the U.S. Generally, we will take weekend trips for our antiquing efforts.