Moore’s ceremony drew support from far and wide. In attendance were 12 Bay Area police chiefs coming from Gilroy to Fairfield, New York Deputy Chief of Police Charles Dowd, two Bay Area fire chiefs, and three FBI representatives.
“You stand on the shoulders of those who come before you,” proclaimed Chief Moore, recognizing the efforts that former Chief McNamara made during his challenging tenure. McNamara was also in attendance.
“It’s a fresh beginning; it’s a new day for the San Jose Police Department. I’m honored and humbled to be chosen to lead one of the best police departments in the country,” said Chief Moore in an interview with The Epoch Times.
Boosting Morale
“[We] worked together for 25 years; they just don’t come any more honest than Chris Moore. He’s the best of the best,” commented Assistant Chief Diane Urban to The Epoch Times, whose appointment to assistant chief marks her as the highest ranking women in the history of the San Jose Police Department.
Morale is at the top of the list for Urban. “Focusing on morale, with the budget cuts we are facing—that’s our greatest challenge… We may be leaner, we may look different, we may be reorganized, but we are still going to be the best police department in the country.”
“Congratulations to Chief Moore but congratulations to the City Manager. This was an enormous undertaking outreaching into the community,” said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed during his speech.
Mayor Reed also recognized the challenges of the job and affirmed his confidence in Chief Moore. “If you look at the community expectations for what we want out of the man to lead this department there is some pretty high expectations in our community,” and “I know we got a leader in this man.”
Judge LaDoris Cordell, Stanford Law Graduate and retired Superior Court Judge in Santa Clara County, gave Chief Moore a whopping high-five after inducting him into the job. She has great confidence in Moore’s ability to steer through the challenges.
“The true measure of a leader is not where that person stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where that person stands in times of challenge and controversy… I believe that Chris Moore is up to the challenge,” said Cordell during her remarks.
San Jose City Manager Debra Figone, by nature of the city’s charter, shouldered the responsibility to manage the community outreach and selection of the new chief. She is pleased with her decision. “Not disappointed at all,” said Figone.
In her selection process she was looking at four main characteristics: “Personal qualities, professional experience, leadership, [and] motivation.”
“His integrity, his intellect, his character, and his authenticity speak for themselves,” said Figone. But she especially noted how Moore’s academic credentials garnered the support of the police department.
“Outstanding education,” said Figone, and “This was very important to our troops as they conveyed what they were looking for in our next chief.”
Moore’s professional background includes serving as Counsel to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, a selected White House Fellow, and a member of the State Bar of California. He has received a B.A. from UC Berkeley, a M.P.A. from San Jose State, and a J.D. from Lincoln Law School in San Jose.
“He can hit the ground running,” claims Figone, and “He has the courage to lead this through times of change and great instability.”
Community Partnerships
San Jose Fire Chief William McDonald also had good things to say about Chief Moore.
“Honesty, but he was also a great police officer, and he cares a lot about the community and is very focused on ensuring that there is a good relationship between the community and the department,” said McDonald to The Epoch Times.
McDonald is excited to strengthen the fire department’s tight working relationship with the police department. “This community and city sees public safety as a single function. We have so much that we can do that is better for the city and a better way to provide services if we are collaborative and collective on how we serve our community,” said McDonald.
Moore is alarmed about the high homicide rate in San Jose this year, which already stands at 12 compared to last year’s total of 20. He mentioned that gang homicide is a focus for him.
The overlying thread is building better community partnerships given the distrust some would say has developed in recent years with the public, as well as overcoming the looming budget deficit.
“It’s time that we strengthen our community partnerships… The first thing I have to do out of the gate is to reestablish relationships with the community,” said Moore.
“We are going to shrink and contract. The key is to manage that shrinkage and then protect the citizens the best we can with what we have,” commented Moore, alluding to potential layoffs and the possibility of losing the department’s helicopter due to the budget shortfall.
Harnessing the 21st century’s technology is a priority for the chief. Figone calls Moore a leader in developing the upcoming public safety wireless broadband network for police that “will be there when we need it, whenever we need it, wherever we need it,” says Moore.
Stay tuned, the unveiling of this “multi-million dollar project” will be unveiled in San Jose shortly said Moore.
Moore is determined that the “new technologies, new records management system, and automated field reporting system” will greatly assist the department.
Chief Moore closed the interview with this message for San Jose residents: “If they need help, [I hope] that they call us, and we will respond as quickly as we can, and we are there to help them.”
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