New Tiburon police chief aims to strengthen department’s connection to community

Tiburon Police Chief Ryan Monaghan, who started April 5, has a history of engaging directly with residents and says he’ll be integrating changes to better connect his officers and department with the community. (Elliot Karlan / For The Ark)

After clocking his first month as Tiburon’s new police chief getting to know the community, Ryan Monaghan says the coming weeks will be aimed at “supercharging” diversity and inclusion initiatives introduced last year in response to allegations of racial profiling and implicit bias within the department.

Monaghan, a 27-year veteran of San Mateo Police Department, stepped in as the new head of the force April 5 and says he immediately started building upon former part-time interim Chief Jamie Scardina’s efforts to beef up community policing and establish trust with the town’s residents — especially people of color.

“We’re looking at ways to integrate with the community to get from them, ‘What does diversity, equity and inclusion look like in policing in the town of Tiburon?’” Monaghan said. “I hear these words being thrown around all the time, but I hear so many different definitions of what they look like in practice. The meaning is what matters, not the words.”

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