Chief Ron Camacho is busy launching leadership coaching, creating space for tough conversations, and building up officers so they’re not only better cops but better people.
Key Themes
Officer development as a strategy: Mentorship, education, and expectations [00:06:45] – [00:08:45]
Leading with a human-centered philosophy: Transparency, humility, emotional intelligence [00:05:00] – [00:06:30]
Community engagement philosophy: Why relationships with residents matter [00:07:15] – [00:08:00]
Balancing federal and local roles: Trust and fear in immigrant communities [00:11:00] – [00:12:00]
Rehabilitating internal culture: Tough conversations, second chances [00:13:00] – [00:15:00]
Quotes:
"I know all of my weaknesses. I fight my weaknesses all the time. I've written articles on ego and when you're a chief for a long time and now I'm a chief at a way bigger place with a lot more responsibility, I fight that ego every day."
“You're in that office, maybe you're on an upper floor, right? And you lose contact with the officers. You lose contact with the community. I've made it a point, a super strong point to make sure that I'm out on the streets with my officers to get to know them, but to also be in the community.”
“I spend a lot of time with community, and making myself accessible to the community. What I found and what I have felt is a fear among the Hispanic community. We have a large Hispanic community here….They're active and engaged with the department...And, now I've been drawn into this political arena that, quite frankly, I don't want to be drawn to into and the bottom line is this: municipal cops do municipal policing and federal cops do federal policing…”
“You have to have an ability to have that honest conversation and which is tough. They're not easy. You have to develop that skill. And that should include compassion and empathy. It should not be you yelling at somebody. No, we're trying to get to the heart of the problem, but there needs to be some closure at the end of that conversation, which again is difficult because you're being very honest with people.”
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