Capt. Wilson Retires After 28 Years

from Scotts Valley Times: December 2020

Know Someone in Crisis?: Help is a Phone Call Away, By Nancy Fash

COMMUNITY NEWS Capt. Wilson Retires After 28 Years

Editor’s Note: He’s spent his entire career with the Scotts Valley Police Department, and now he’s retiring on Dec. 4. Ordinarily this would mean farewell gatherings with friends and co-workers but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that won’t happen. So the Scotts Valley Times asked Police Chief Stephen Walpole and Wilson’s co-workers to talk about his contributions to the community.

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John Wilson is a 28-year veteran of the Scotts Valley Police Department, having served the last two years at the rank of captain.

He was hired by the Scotts Valley Police Department as a patrol officer in 1992. He worked his way through the ranks, serving as a field training officer, juvenile detective, sergeant, lieutenant, and was appointed captain on April 20, 2019. He was the department’s second

John Wilson instructor in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, teaching for four years. He started the Middle School DARE program and led the Police Activities League during his tenure as juvenile detective. He received the Outstanding Juvenile Officer award from the Criminal Justice Council for his efforts.

Captain Wilson was intensely involved

Photo Credit: Donna Lind Sgt. Meredith Roberts presents John Wilson with his retirement gift. in all aspects of the training program at the Scotts Valley Police Department. As a fourth-degree black belt, he instructed his co-workers in defensive tactics, firearms, Taser, chemical agents, impact weapons, and diversionary devices.

He was also an “Active Shooter Response” instructor for both law enforcement and civilians. He used his knowledge of active shootings to conduct numerous site inspections for threat assessments.

Captain Wilson also taught the next generation of law enforcement officers as an adjunct instructor for Cabrillo College’s Criminal Justice program for the past twenty years, and at the South Bay Public Safety Regional Training Police Academy for over ten years.