Serving in his new role for nearly a month, UC Davis Police Chief Matt Carmichael has begun implementing changes within the police department.
Carmichael has signed with Lexipol, a public safety risk management company, that charges $6,000 per year to routinely update policies. He said that he enjoys working as a team in the police station and being a member of the UC Davis community.
Carmichael and consultant Paul Harman will hold their first Town Hall meeting on Tuesday to get input from students before summer about what changes they would like to see made.
The Aggie: How do you feel about being the new police chief?
Carmichael: I am extremely excited and very encouraged. It is an amazing opportunity, one I am not willing to squander. I will make good changes.
What are some of the changes you plan to make?
Policy. Some of our policies are out of date by eight years. Policy is the foundation of organization and definitely in need of a change. I signed a contract with the risk management company Lexipol. Basically we are going to take every policy and it’s going to be new. Good policy has to stay updated. If you ask me how often my policy is updated, I would say that it is routinely updated. Lexipol is used for large organizations, from the California Department of Justice down to the West Sacramento Police Department. We are the ninth UC school to sign with Lexipol. The UC Davis Fire Department is currently using it. In order to do it, I have hired Paul Harman, a retired lieutenant from L.A. County, also with 14 years of experience on the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. He still has connections and will be here for six months. At that point, the post-audit will be done.
How are you planning to move forward?
I’m really focused on moving forward, from Nov. 20 to now. The changes that we’re going to make together, getting to work in an amazing campus that is internationally recognized, it is really cool stuff. Now that I am the boss, I am going to make the hiring process more community-based. I don’t think there is anything too similar in any other department. In the future, the panel up front will be based 20 percent law enforcement officials and 80 percent being community members. In the end candidates will reflect interest from the community. We currently have made three conditional hiring offers to add to our staff.
DANIELLE HUDDLESTUN can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
