Friday, July 7, 2017 |
Sacramento, CA
Sacramento's in-coming Police Chief, current Roseville Police Chief Daniel Hahn, faces an embattled police force with multiple controversies.
Questions still remain surrounding the death of Joseph Mann and the beating of Nandi Cain; officers are paid less than their counterparts in regional cities and there’s been an uptick in crime in certain neighborhoods.
Speaking Friday on "Insight with Beth Ruyak", Hahn said if people in the community don't trust police, it leads to angst and protests.
"That's what we're seeing right now," Hahn said. "And we've seen it throughout the history of our country, all over our country, that certain segments of our community have never ever had a great relationship, trusting relationship, with law enforcement among other groups . And so I think it's about time we try to solve that and have a great relationship."
Hahn, who grew up in Oak Park, said he was surrounded by challenges growing up, such as drugs and prostitution, and even his own brush-with-the-law as a teenager. But he was also guided by good people in the neighborhood.
"I was arrested when I was 16 in (the) living room of my home for assault on an officer,” he said. “My younger brother was murdered in Sacramento after he got involved in the drug trade. So the experiences that I had and the people that I met and mentored me gave me, I think, a really broad perspective on all of Sacramento."
The 49-year-old Hahn will be Sacramento's first African American police chief. He accepted a conditional offer for the job made last month. Hahn says he expects to take office in mid-August after a background check is complete.