As the end of his first official year on the job draws to a
close, Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming is looking toward the
future with enthusiasm and optimism.
As the end of his first official year on the job draws to a close, Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming is looking toward the future with enthusiasm and optimism.
His first year in office was a busy one: the department moved from cramped quarters at the intersection of Main and Dunne Avenues to a spacious building on Vineyard Boulevard; he engineered a departmental reorganization; and several successful crime suppression efforts were completed.
But perhaps his greatest accomplishments over the past year can be measured in human terms.
“He’s a people-centered, ethical leader,” MHPD Cmdr. Joe Sampson said Thursday. “That’s super-critical when you are doing the public’s business.”
Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy agrees.
“He’s done an amazing job,” he said. “He brings a lot of experience to the position, and he has a great sense of humor. His personality is really a very open personality; he’s a people person, and that is something that is really important in the position he has.
“One excellent example of that is the way he dealt with the James Boys Ranch situation. That was a very contentious issue, very much a concern to the community, but he conveyed a sense that the city was interested in (neighbors’) concerns and willing to address them.”
Cumming said when he joined the department he felt, in some way, it was at a standstill.
“They were getting the job done, but that was about it,” he said. “I felt we could all do more. I wanted to improve communication in the department. I wanted to improve how things were coordinated, and I wanted us to become more proactive, not reactive.”
While there is always room for improvement, Cumming said he feels there have been gains in these areas. In bringing the department up to speed, he said, it can better serve the community.
“There are some problems we’ve seen, including an incredible jump in property crimes, such as burglary and auto burglary,” he said. “Drug cases, particularly meth, we feel can be tied to these property crimes. So we have made concerted efforts to crack down, with several special suppression focuses. We want to continue that more.”
Overall, violent crime is down, however, and Cumming said he hopes having an increased police presence, in the city and at the secondary schools, where the department has two School Resource Officers, will help the trend to continue.
His staff sees the results and notes several reasons his changes have been successful.
“He is also someone who takes charge when necessary,” Sampson said. “He’s not afraid to make the tough decisions. He certainly listens to our advice and counsel, but he ultimately makes the decision. Again, that quality is critical in this type of work.”
One of the things his staff appreciates about him is the fact that he likes what he does.
“Even after more than 30 years on the job, he still has that passion for policework,” Sampson said. “It rubs off on the rest of us, it definitely trickles down. He’s still excited about catching criminals, putting the bad guys out of business.”
That enthusiasm leads Cumming to appreciate that his job does not require him to be a “desk jockey.”
“This job is not like that, it’s definitely a hands-on job,” he said. “That’s what (Morgan Hill City Manager) Ed Tewes told me from the beginning. And I like to get out there, to know what’s going on in the department, in the city. That’s a big part of my job.”
Looking ahead, Cumming said, he hopes to see the long-term effects of the departmental reorganization.
“There are opportunities now, I think, because that was one of the things I heard when I talked with officers who were leaving the department, that there were few opportunities for growth,” he said. “I hope to see us retaining our officers, for them to have something to strive for.”
Cumming said he would also like to see an increase in the number of officers the department has as a minimum. Currently, there are 33 sworn officers to serve a growing Morgan Hill population of more than 35,000.
“We’ve just started a preliminary workload study, with POST (Peace Officers Standards and Training),” he said. “We’ll look at if additional staffing is something that we need to pursue, are we comparable to other cities or do we need more staff. That’s something that has been an issue for us for some time, as the population continues to grow. We have made the best of the resources we have.”
The president of the Police Officers Association, School Resource Officer David Ray, said he and other officers are aware Cumming takes the staffing issue seriously.
“I know the chief is working with the city, I know he has the workload study underway, and it is clear he wants to improve the situation,” he said. “I think the main thing that strikes me about the chief is that he cares, about his officers, about the department, about the city.”
Special Operations Sgt. David Swing said he has felt the positive changes Cumming has brought to the department.
“I think his greatest strength is that he brings a healthy accountability to the department, to City Hall, to the officers,” he said. “I believe the communication within the department has increased, and overall morale has increased.”
On a personal note, Swing said, he literally would not be in the position he’s in today if it wasn’t for Cumming, because prior to the reorganization, opportunities for sergeants were limited.
“There are opportunities for professional growth,” he said. “The changes have been very good in the way things are structured, making the best use of the manpower we have.”
Nancy Jett, a civilian who works in records for the department, said the non-officer members of the department have felt appreciated with Cumming at the helm.
“We really like the chief,” she said. “He is very fair, he has an open-door policy, and we feel very comfortable here. I think he appreciates what records does. Sometimes we don’t hear about the calls, don’t know what’s going on, aren’t a part of that excitement, but he will come see how we are doing, fill us in. His reorganization has created some positions, making everything run more smoothly.”
Cumming, 59, is a native Californian. He retired from the Menlo Park Police Department in 1999 after 11 years as its chief. Before that he had worked his way up through the ranks of the Palo Alto Police Department, leaving as a captain.
He and his wife, Rhonda, have lived in San Carlos for 29 years and have three adult children: a son who is a police officer in Pacifica, another son who is an EMT in San Jose and a daughter who is a beautician in San Jose.
Cumming held two interim jobs before the Morgan Hill position since retiring: interim police chief for Fort Bragg and interim chief of security for Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. He came to Morgan Hill in January of 2004 as interim, and was officially sworn-in in October 2004.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@*************es.com.
