YOUR AD HERE »

Meet the new police chief

DARIN OLDE, Sierra Sun

Dan Boon, the Town of Truckee’s first police chief, started work at Town Hall Monday, moving into a new office and meeting his coworkers.

Boon, 52, spent his first day talking with Town Manager Stephen L. Wright, discussing various communities within the town and meeting with Community Development Director Tony Lashbrook.

“Steve took me on a very nice tour of the Town Hall facilities and introduced me to all the staff that was there at the time,” Boon said Tuesday.



So far Boon said the staff he has met has been fantastic. “Everyone on staff I’ve met so far indicated they will help in any way they can. They have been very, very good about that.”

There are some very basic – yet vastly important – tasks ahead for Boon and the Town of Truckee, such as hiring an executive assistant and police lieutenant, securing jail facilities, a communications center and establishing a computer system. None of the activities will happen overnight, and all of them will require careful long-term planning, he said.



Although most of the faces and names are new, many of the tasks are familiar for the new chief. In his three decades of law enforcement Boon has helped put together new police facilities before. He will draw on those experiences to help form Truckee’s Police Department, but he certainly won’t do it alone.

“With a team on board we will establish the goals for the department. And I want to emphasize working with the community on that. The community has been very active in defining who they wanted as the chief and what they wanted the department to be like. So these goals will be continued in a joint effort with the community,” Boon said. “The whole concept of the Town Police Department is based on a partnership with the community.”

However, Boon admitted he is on a tight schedule, alluding to the Sept. 1 deadline to begin operation. “We’re moving forward with what we can,” he added.

What’s most exciting for the chief?

“When the town incorporated in 1993 it incorporated such a beautiful piece of the state. The town really wants to maintain the atmosphere it has had all these years … the open space, the character … maintaining that essence is great. The town has a really good handle on that.”

Boon, a father of three, has been around the Sierra Nevada for most of his life. He served in the Auburn Police Department from 1979 to 1995 before moving to Pismo Beach, where he worked as the chief, and has lived in Nevada, El Dorado and Placer counties.

Boon has a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from California State University in Sacramento and is a graduate from the Federal Bureau of Investigations Academy in Quantico, Va.

This week he plans to look at a few houses for sale in Truckee. Currently he is staying in Soda Springs until he and his wife find a better opportunity.

Boon will be meeting for lunch with Nevada County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Gary Jacobson, a longtime acquaintance, on Thursday, and Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal on Friday.

Boon will be at the open house for the new Town Hall today at 4 p.m.


Support Local Journalism

 

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Lake Tahoe, Truckee, and beyond make the Sierra Sun's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.