Tracy Police Department.
Leading the way in modern policing in California.
The Tracy Police Department has established the values of “Service, Integrity, and Excellence” because we recognize and respect the sanctity of all human life and dignity without prejudice to anyone. The Tracy Police Department has a long history of judicious, lawful and minimal use of force supported by strong policy, training, supervision, progressive thinking, accountability, transparency, community engagement and community expectations.
We are proud to be a learning organization, continuously seeking to improve, grow and enhance our commitment to protect and preserve life under an umbrella of accountability. Despite the varied and often intense demands of providing public safety services, the men and women of the Tracy Police Department continue to provide outstanding service with the support of the community and government partners. I remain grateful incredibly proud of the work our staff executes every day. There’s a great deal of innovation and forward thinking occurring within the organization on a consistent basis.
I look forward with excited eyes, with humility and an open heart to all of the accomplishments that will take place in the coming years. As your Chief of Police, I’m committed to leading the men and women in this organization to provide respectful, responsible and conscientious public safety services in a timely fashion. Our first commitment to every citizen, business and visitor to the City of Tracy will be based on the principles of Fairness, Integrity, Respect, Service, and Teamwork.
Sekou Millington, Chief of Police
Tracy Police Department
We see you and we hear you, We will be bold for change.
We will do better, because we have to be better.
We are in this together.
Our Mission
To keep Tracy a safe place in which to live, work, and invest.
Our Vision
Preserve the safety and high quality of life in Tracy through value-based policing.
Our Core Values
Service | Integrity | Excellence
21st Century Policing
In 2015, President Barack Obama created the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The Task Force was created to strengthen community policing and trust among law enforcement officers and the communities they serve. The 21st Century Policing report identified six topic areas, or “pillars,” which include:
- Building Trust & Legitimacy
- Policy & Oversight
- Technology & Social Media
- Community Policing & Crime Reduction
- Training & Education
- Officer Wellness & Safety
The Tracy Police Department has taken numerous positive steps to bring the department in line with recommended best practices that promote effective crime reduction while building public trust. The department’s staff has received Procedural Justice Training which focuses on four central principles of:
- Treating people with dignity and respect
- Giving individuals a “voice” during encounters
- Being neutral and transparent in decision making
- Conveying trustworthy motives
Supporting Documentation
You can read the documents associated with this page by viewing and downloading The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing and the Final Report of The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
Use of Force
Communities across the nation were outraged by the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We were too. The police tactics that we observed that resulted in his death were deeply saddening and disturbing. The City of Tracy does not train, condone or allow our officers to apply such techniques.
Where We Stand
The Tracy Police Department values its strong relationship with our community and strives for “service, integrity, excellence.” We begin by selecting good men and women while seeking to reflect the diversity of our community. We continually invest in our officers in training de-escalation and to ensure that when force is lawfully applied, we provide any needed medical assistance.
We are already increasing our training beyond standards set by the California Peace Officers Standards and Training, also known as POST. We always strive to provide additional training to our officers and professional staff.
#EightCantWait Campaign
Based on the Campaign Zero Initiative, we have compiled a comprehensive review of our policies for full transparency with the community. The campaign has identified the following policy areas of focus to reduce police related use of force:
1. Require De-escalation
All police officers in the Tracy Police Department are trained in de-escalation techniques, throughout their careers.
Police officers are required to attend a four-hour Interpersonal Communication and De-escalation Training certified by the California POST (Peace Officers Standards and Training). Starting with de-escalation training in the academy, officers continue to receive this training during their time in the Field Training Program, and subsequent training every two years.
2. Duty to Intervene
The Tracy Police Department requires an officer who observes another officer using force that is clearly beyond what is necessary to intervene when in a position to do so.
The policy also requires the officer to report their observations to a supervisor as soon as possible.
3. Require Warning Before Shooting
Where feasible, a police offer shall, before using force, make reasonable efforts to identify themselves as a peace officer and to warn that deadly force may be used unless the officer has objectively reasonable grounds to believe the person is aware of those facts.
4. Exhaust All Other Means Before Shooting
In determining whether deadly force is necessary.
Officers shall evaluate each situation in light of the particular circumstances and use other available resources and techniques if reasonably safe and feasible.
An officer is only required to use less-lethal force if reasonably safe and feasible without endangering the officer’s life or the lives of others.
5. Require Comprehensive Reporting
The Tracy Police Department requires officers to document any use of force in a police report.
6. Ban Chokeholds and Strangleholds
Tracy Police Officers are not authorized to use “chokeholds” and “Strangleholds”.
7. Ban Shooting at Moving Vehicles
An officer should only discharge a firearm at a moving vehicle or its occupants when the officer believes there are no other reasonable means available to avert the threat of the vehicle.
Officers should move out of the path of an approaching vehicle instead of discharging their firearm at the occupants or the vehicle itself.
Or if deadly force other than the vehicle is directed at the officer or others.
8. Require Use of Force Continuum
Officers are required to make decisions in rapidly changing situations.
Due to this, the Use of Force Continuum is a concept that has given way to more knowledgeable and science-based use of force training and policies.
The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics
As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all to liberty, equality and justice.
I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all; maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn, or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed in both my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my department. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is confided to me in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless revelation is necessary in the performance of my duty.
I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, animosities or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromise for crime and with relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force or violence and never accepting gratuities.
I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and I accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of the police service. I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself before God to my chosen profession…law enforcement.