Full Notification

A joint message from Chief Denton Carlson and the President of the San Ramon Police Officer’s Association, Sergeant Mark Holland -

To the Everyone in the San Ramon Community -

We are sorry. The killing of Tyre Nichols was reprehensible and unjust.

Once again, members of our chosen profession criminally took the life of an innocent person. I watched the videos yesterday, and as I mentioned in a social media post last night, they were disgusting, reprehensible, and inhumane. I was appalled by their barbarism and stunning incompetence while performing a simple community member contact and their shocking inability to simply respect an individual’s life.

The actions taken by those police officers in Memphis were unfathomable. When do we, as a profession, arrive at a point where every leader in law enforcement recognizes that some of our systems are broken and demands we make it right? What happened in Memphis, and what has happened far too many times across our country, directly results from fatally flawed systems. Until our industry can unanimously recognize this at a national level, incidents like this will continue to occur. Putting our heads in the sand and saying it is just a few bad apples is no longer acceptable. 

Improving organizational culture, universally respecting human dignity, responsible supervision, enhancing officer wellness, and fostering a mentality that does not value enforcement above all else are just a few critical components that will finally bring about change and improve our national approach to law enforcement. Unfortunately, we cannot “train” ourselves out of this hole. It will take a cultural shift throughout law enforcement to make this happen.

As your Chief of Police, it is with immense pride that I, along with Sergeant Mark Holland, President of the San Ramon Police Officer’s Association, report your San Ramon Police Officers are on the cutting edge of these vital concepts of successful policing in 2023. You have our commitment that we will continue to advance and dedicate our service to every member of the San Ramon Community with the highest level of professionalism and integrity.

Not only will we continue to be dedicated to this level of professionalism within our organization, but we are committed to setting the example for law enforcement nationwide. We will work tirelessly to improve our industry far beyond the city limits of San Ramon.

Every member of our organization echoes this commitment, and I cannot thank Sergeant Mark Holland enough for joining me in this message.

To ensure everyone in our community has the opportunity to meet and talk with us about our philosophy and service-based approach to policing, we invite you to join us at an Open House on Wednesday, February 1st, 2023, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the San Ramon Police Department (2401 Crow Canyon Road). This forum will allow us to talk openly and to organically answer your questions. Mark and I will both be there, along with other members of the San Ramon Police Department, and we welcome you to join us on Wednesday evening.

-Denton and Mark