Denton Carlson, previously a Captain with the San Ramon Police Department, was sworn in as the City’s fifth Police Chief at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 26, 2022. Denton was selected after a nationwide recruitment effort that involved a series of panels involving community members, city staff, and subject matter experts.
Denton’s law enforcement career started in 1998 as a Deputy Sheriff. In 2002, he began serving the San Ramon community through the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff as a contract police officer for the city. In 2007, Denton joined the newly formed San Ramon Police Department. During his time as an Officer, Corporal, and Sergeant, he held the positions of Patrol Officer, Community Academy Coordinator, Detective, Tactical Team member and Team Leader, Law Enforcement Academy Recruit Training Officer, Patrol Supervisor, and Professional Standards and Training Supervisor.
In 2014, Denton was promoted to Lieutenant as a manager within the Patrol Division. A year later, he developed the department’s Community Resource and Crime Prevention Division. This included implementing Social Media Outreach and Public Safety Emergency Communications platforms. Denton was also the department’s Public Information Officer, Commander of the Multi-Agency Central County SWAT Team, and the Department’s liaison with the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. Denton’s efforts related to community engagement, social media, and public safety communication platforms led to his selection as the 2016 Employee of the Year by the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce.
Denton was promoted to Captain in 2017 as the Operations Bureau Commander, overseeing the department’s Patrol, Traffic, and Youth Services Divisions. From 2019 until his promotion to Chief, he was the Support Services Bureau Commander. He was responsible for the Investigations, Community Resource and Crime Prevention, Professional Standards and Training, Finance, Records, and Property and Evidence Divisions. In addition, he served as the Director of the City of San Ramon’s Office of Emergency Management from 2015 until 2022.
Denton holds a Master’s in Emergency Services Administration from California State University, Long Beach, and is a California Peace Officer Standards and Training Command College graduate, where he received the Dorothy Harris Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence. He is also a graduate of the California Police Chiefs Association’s Executive Development Certificate Program and the Executive Certificate Program in Transformative Leadership from California State University, East Bay. In addition, he is a member of the Faculty at the University of San Diego, where he teaches within their Master’s program in Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership.