SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif — El Cajon will soon be looking for its next police chief.
After five years, the city's top cop just announced his retirement.
Chief Mike Moulton started his police career in El Cajon back in 1995.
"It's been an amazing, you know, experience. I never planned on being a chief of police, you know, when I started, or even, you know, when I was halfway through my career. I never planned on being a chief of police," said Moulton.
Chief Moulton was hired as the city's fifteenth police chief in 2019.
Shortly after, the pandemic started, followed by national protests over the murder of George Floyd, which highlighted people's distrust in police.
"It was the toughest time that I can remember in law enforcement, you know. The thing that was interesting about the riots that we experienced in 2020 is they were even more significant, I think, to law enforcement than the riots of the 60’s. Because the riots of the 60’s were really, you know, anti-government, anti-establishment riots. The riots that we had during 2020 and through 2021 were, they were anti-police riots," said Moulton.
Chief Moulton said both periods presented challenges the department is still recovering from.
Still, he's proud of how they were handled and the progress that's been made.
For example, police recruitment numbers dropped dramatically, but they're slowly climbing back up.
Right now, there are nine vacancies out of 136 sworn officers.
Also, Chief Moulton has prioritized transparency and engaging with the public.
“You know, people ask me, well, you know, would you ever change anything? Do you ever make any mistakes? I say, I make a mistake once a week. But, I'm a true believer, you know that you're always learning, and I think you learn more from your mistakes than your successes," said Moulton.
Some of those successes include the automated license-plate reader program, which has been used to recover stolen vehicles, as well as drones to improve response times and safety during critical incidents.
Chief Moulton hopes the next chief will continue to build on those enhancements, saying technology is key.
His retirement is set for Dec. 30. A replacement has not been named.
As for what's next, he's not sure.
Moulton plans to stay in East County where he's from, telling CBS 8 he’s leaving his position confident the community of El Cajon is and will continue to be in good hands.
“I’ve appreciated their support over these many years, that they have one of the best police departments in this nation with some of the best people in it wanting to serve them and serving them to the best of their ability,” said Moulton.
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