Culver City Welcomes New Police, Fire Chiefs

Culver City has a new chief of police, Scott Bixby, and a new fire chief, Dave White. The double appointments of Bixby and White, both of whom had been serving as interim heads of their departments, was announced at last week's City Council meeting and drew enthusiastic applause.

New Police Chief Scott Bixby was born in Culver City, attending El Rincon Elementary School, Culver Junior (middle) School and Culver high school. His first involvement with the Culver City Police Department was as an explorer scout at age 15.

He began his professional career with the city as a community service officer in 1980. That same year, he was promoted to police officer and attended the Rio Hondo Police Academy, graduating in October 1980.

More promotions followed as Bixby made Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, and finally Assistant Chief in 2009. He worked "virtually every assignment available at CCPD including patrol, motors, detectives, narcotics, the DARE program and two tours in multi-agency task forces."

Bixby has also held such positions as Deputy Director of the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force, (LA IMPACT), and Interim Assistant Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Culver City from July of 2005 until December of 2005.

He holds an AA Degree from West Los Angeles College in Administration of Justice and a BA degree from National University in Criminal Justice.

At a time when many police forces around the country are caught in turmoil, Bixby is stepping into what appears to be a good situation in Culver City.

"With regard to crime prevention, I'm proud to say that in 2013 we experienced a decrease in violent crime of 38%," says Bixby. "Property crime was down 9% and overall crime was down 13%. We measure our effectiveness on five factors. Response time, case clearance, the reduction and prevention of crime, the efficient flow of traffic and an effective parking enforcement program and the morale of the Department. We strive to maintain a response time of less than three minutes to emergency calls and we solve approximately 51% of the crimes that take place."

Bixby credits Culver City's efficiency as being due to a framework he calls "the five P's. Proactive, professional, pride, passion and partnership."

Dave White, the new fire chief, has worked in fire service for 32 years and has been with Culver City's fire department since 1988. He began as a firefighter and advanced to the position of Assistant Fire Chief before his appointment as Interim Chief in June 2014.

A Southern California native, White earned a B.S. degree in Occupational Studies and an M.S. in Emergency Services Administration from California State University at Long Beach. He has also earned numerous California State Fire Service certifications, including Chief Officer, and he is a licensed paramedic.

In 2011 and 2014, he achieved designation as Chief Fire Officer from the Center for Public Safety Excellence.

White has taught at Texas A&M University and currently teaches part-time in the Fire Technology Program at Pasadena City College.

He and his wife have two children.

Culver City Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells says of White:

"His knowledge and expertise gained over three decades in the fire service along with his 26 years of experience with Culver City make Chief White

the perfect choice for our city."