Deputy Police Chief Rick Watson: Danny Fulgencio
During his first crime watch meeting as the new North Central deputy police chief, Rick Watson quickly learned just how important crime prevention is to our neighborhoods.
“It was well, well, well attended,” he says of the meeting. “I think they had 80-plus people with standing room only.”
Watson began Aug. 15 as the new chief of the North Central Patrol Division, which encompasses Far North Dallas and part of Preston Hollow. He replaced Jesse Reyes, who, after five years, left for a new position in the Dallas Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division.
The key issues remain the same in North Central — crime-ridden apartment complexes, particularly in Far North Dallas, as well as residential burglaries and car break-ins.
“There seem to be pockets that give us trouble — just like [other divisions have],” Watson says. “We all have them. I’m just trying to determine, what’s the common denominator?”
Having spent 36 years with the DPD, Watson brings a wide variety of experience to North Central. As a rookie, he started out in the Southwest Patrol Division, of which he later became deputy chief. He also has served in the personnel division, the support services division and 911 dispatch. Most recently, he oversaw the property crimes division, where he worked on organized retail theft cases.
“We call it pushing Tide,” he says.
It’s when criminals steal large amounts of merchandise — anything from shampoo to laptops — and sell it to a second party, known as a fence, who could then sell it in another store. Officers work undercover for long periods of time to catch the culprits.
“It’s the same way we approach narcotics. It’s a food chain. You have to work your way up.”
[quote align=”right” color=”#000000″]“There seem to be pockets that give us trouble. We all have them. I’m just trying to determine, what’s the common denominator?”[/quote]Watson has come a long way since his rookie days. Like most respectable cops, his career in law enforcement was born out of a desire to help people.
“This is going to sound corny, but I mean it,” he says. “I wanted to make a difference — for honest, hard-working individuals who are doing the best they can, regardless of socioeconomic status.”
But there’s another side to the job that not all officers handle well, he says, and that’s treating others the way you’d want to be treated — even the criminals. Police officers have a huge responsibility.
“No other person has that kind of authority to take your freedom from you,” he says. “You can’t take advantage of it. Not all of us get a fair hand in life.”
