Police Chief Bob Dunn has accepted a position as Assistant Police Chief in Torrance. His last day in Fullerton will be September 24th. Before his departure, he was the guest speaker at the Lions Club Fullerton on August 17th, where he spoke about policing in Fullerton.

Dunn began his speech with the current Chilean burglary ring that targets wealthy neighborhoods and the copycat burglar ring that looks to be teenagers.

They both tend to target two-story homes, often in broad daylight, even appearing on security cameras. Dunn said they take the most valuable, difficult to trace, and easiest to turn items. They are in and out in less than 15 minutes, only targeting homes they know to be unoccupied.

Dunn said that he is proud of the School Resource Officers (SRO) who work with the high schools in Fullerton and the new School Liaison Officer (SLO) pilot program for the elementary schools. These officers are primarily responsible for School Safety and crime prevention through education.

The SLO often acts as a counselor and mentor to students and frequently teaches law enforcement-related topics in schools. In addition to the educational aspect of this position, the SLO also handles issues of criminal matters and criminal investigations when crimes occur in and around the schools.

Other programs that Dunn is proud of helping to implement are the Homeless Outreach and Proactive Engagement Center (HOPE) and a new Social Worker Officer pilot program that Orange County recently awarded $1 million.

HOPE Center is a project of the North OC Public Safety Collaborative, formed by an act of the State Legislature. Community organizations, city managers, and police chiefs began meeting in 2017 to share data and to work on solutions to homelessness, intervention, and violence prevention in the North OC region, including Fullerton, Buena Park, La Habra, Brea, Placentia, Yorba Linda, Anaheim, Cypress, La Palma, Orange, and Stanton.

Senator Newman secured $36 million for local homeless outreach and prevention programs. Among other funding, HOPE has received:

• Fullerton City Council voted in January 2021 to contribute $650,000 in CARES Act funding.

• Senator Newman secured an additional $7.8 million in July 2021.

• The County of Orange contributed $500,000.

• Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva awarded Fullerton $4 million.

• And more recently, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein have awarded $5 million each for salaries.

The new center will also be able to quickly dispatch mobile homeless outreach units with social workers, mental health workers, homeless liaison officers, and community service providers (depending on what services are needed) to any location across the region.

Participating cities will no longer need to contract with individual non-profits as the HOPE center will act as a central hub where all homeless services can be coordinated.

The new Social Worker Officer pilot program will change how it responds to calls about homelessness, mental health, juvenile delinquency, and domestic abuse. The approach aims to reduce the strain on law enforcement resources while fostering positive community relationships and improving outcomes for those in need.

At the end of the speech, guests asked: Why is the recruitment video so dark?

Dunn: We recently did a search for firms that could help us be strategic in our approach to recruitment.  The recruitment landscape in law enforcement is very competitive, with some cities offering officers hiring bonuses of $75,000. After looking at three separate companies, we made a selection with a contract cost of around $55-$60k.  The firm will be doing targeted marketing online and on social media.  Of the three firms, they were the only firm whose cost included a new recruitment video.  The new video will have the action component tempered with the community outreach that is vital to our work.

Guest: I heard a Hoax Terrorist threat at Temple Beth Tikva. Is that true?

Dunn: Yes, a hoax was called in, targeting several Mosques in California. Temple Beth Tikva has hired security to make sure any threat is prevented.

Guest: How many K9 units does FPD have?

Dunn: Currently, we have three in the field and one comfort dog for those dealing with trauma. We have been blessed by community members who have donated dogs to the FPD.