Healdsburg’s newest police lieutenant, Matt Jenkins, 31, was promoted in early December. Jenkins was raised up from patrol sergeant after serving with the Healdsburg Police Department as an officer since May 2003. He celebrated his 10th anniversary on the force just last week.
Before joining as an officer, Jenkins was a college intern with the department while studying criminal justice at Sonoma State University.
During his studies, local law enforcement officials would visit and discuss their background and some aspect of law enforcement. One week it was none other than former Healdsburg police chief and current mayor, Susan Jones, presenting to Jenkins’ class.
“She said ‘We’ll have an opportunity for an internship if anyone’s interested,’” Jenkins said. “She tells the story that she hadn’t even gotten back up to Healdsburg by the time I had the email in to her.”
The lieutenant position is a fairly recent addition to the Healdsburg Police Department, only being recreated in mid-2010 after 14 years without one. Jenkins stepped into the role easily, he said.
“I had almost two years as administrative sergeant, doing some of the duties that the lieutenant does now,” he said. “So I did have some experience doing some of the administrative stuff before I got promoted up here, so it’s been a smoother transition because my feet were already wet in that area.”
The toughest challenge, Jenkins said, is that the higher you rise in the pecking order at the police department, the more removed you become from the day-to-day street-level operations. He tries to maintain that hands-on knowledge by keeping his ear to the ground and interacting with the patrolling officers as often as possible.
“That way there’s that free flow of information,” he said. “Because we can make decisions up here from this office or from the chief’s office, but having a true understanding of what’s happening downstairs on the patrol level and out in the community, that’s where we need to be connected so we can make the best decisions.”
There are 14 officers, five dispatchers and three civilian specialists and technicians who currently comprise the Healdsburg Police Department, with an area of responsibility that extends out to the city limits to about 4.5 square miles of territory.
Jenkins said he has lived here almost ten years now and feels at home in Healdsburg.
“I love the small town feel and the community,” he said. “And the fact that if my family walked anywhere in town I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable about that and I just really liked that.”
For now, the Healdsburg police department is where the newly promoted lieutenant wants to remain, Jenkins said.
“I’ve loved it since my first day when I started as an intern, so I’m looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that this position is going to present, and to continued job growth,” he said. “I am really happy with where I’m at and with what I’m doing now, and we’re just going to take it as it comes.”
