Former Chief of CA Dept. of Corrections & Rehabilitation Walt Allen

California Law Enforcement is Under Siege

After isolated law enforcement incidents involving the deaths of Black men during the last decade, California law enforcement finds itself under siege by some members of the California state legislature. Several legislative bills not only threaten the safety of police officers but jeopardize the public’s safety statewide. Walt Allen will discuss some of the recent legislative actions and proposals that not only potentially decrease the level of public safety in our communities but negatively affect police recruitment.

Walt has worked in law enforcement for over 46 years and currently serves as the Director of the Rio Hondo Police Academy overseeing police recruit training for over 50 police departments and law enforcement agencies throughout Southern California.

Walt served as a city planner for a year after graduating from Cal Poly Pomona University in 1976. He decided to switch careers and became a police officer for the State University Police Department at Cal State Fullerton and then moved onto Chino Police Department 18 months later where he served as a Police Corporal, Field Training Officer and SWAT Team member for the next five years. Walt was then hired by the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement where he served for the next 24 years and served as an Assistant Chief for the bureau in his final two years at Cal DOJ. He then served as Governor Schwarzenegger’s Director of the California Youth Authority, the largest youth correctional system in the country. In his final year with the Governor, he served as the Chief of the Law Enforcement Division, the Office of Correctional Safety (OCS), for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). Walt subsequently served as a Deputy Commissioner for the California Board of Parole Hearings for the next 6 1/2 years. In 2014, Walter was hired as the Director of the Rio Hondo Police Academy. Walter is also in his 25th year as a city council member for the City of Covina and is currently serving as the Mayor.

Walt serves on numerous boards: Emanate Board of Directors, the Foothill Transit Board of Directors, the Cal Poly Pomona Philanthropic Foundation Board of Directors, the California Academy Directors Association, the Cal Cities Public Safety Committee, the POST Commission Advisory Board, and the Ettie Lee Youth and Family Services Board of Directors.