CHiP off old block

Dave Fox has law enforcement in his blood.

The new commander of the Williams office of the California Highway Patrol knew growing up that his destiny was with the agency.

"My father was a highway patrolman," said Lt. Fox. "So it has been in my family a long time."

Fox, 47, was selected to command the Williams post from among 25 other applicants. He assumed command Jan. 1, following the transfer of Doug Ulrich to the Eureka area.

"This is a great area," Fox said. "There is a lot of community support for the CHP. It's a good office with a lot of good people."

Growing up as the son of a CHP officer, Fox lived throughout the state. As a boy, he lived in Los Angeles when his father was called into the Watts riots, which lasted six days in August 1965.

By the time the riot subsided, about 4,000 people had been arrested, more than 1,000 were injured and 34 people killed.

Fox joined the CHP at 22, following college. He studied engineering, but said he knew going in that law enforcement would be his chosen career.

"The CHP is a great agency to work for," he said. "I always knew this is what I wanted to do."

Prior to his appointment to Williams, Fox was the commander of the CHP's Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team, based at CHP headquarters in Sacramento. He was charged with in-depth investigation and analysis of major traffic collisions throughout the state.

Under Fox's management, the 'A Team' took the lead in investigating the October 2008 bus crash on Lonestar Road that killed 11 people, injured dozens more, and sparked new legislation that imposes strict penalties on any charter company that employs an unqualified driver.

Quintin Joey Watts, 53, of Stockton, was sentenced in Colusa County Superior Court in November to serve 26 years and four months in prison for the crash, after a jury found him guilty of 11 counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and 21 enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury to surviving passengers.

Although crash victims and their families attempted to collect from Colusa County for damages, the Colusa County Board of Supervisors dismissed their claims based on the CHP accident investigation team's conclusion that the road, on which the accident occurred, played no part in the crash, and that the bus was mechanically sound.

Fox's team also took the lead in investigating the 2007 fiery crash of a gasoline tanker truck on a San Francisco area freeway interchange that resulted in the meltdown of the overpass, pulling it off its supports and causing it to crash to the roadway below.

It is Fox's appointment to Williams office, however, that is a dream come true.

"I wanted to command my own office," he said. "My father (Lt. Norman Fox) was commander of the Grass Valley CHP until his retirement, so it's sort of a family tradition."

Fox said his primary goal at the Williams office is ensuring the safety of the motoring public and his officers, and making the office a good place for his people to work.

"I joined the CHP to help the public," he said. "It is nice to know that what you are doing does make a difference. And the success of my command will depend on how well my people perform."

Fox will oversee an office of 19 sworn officers, three sergeants and four non-uniformed personnel.

He lives in Lincoln with his wife, Julie, and teenage daughter, Kayla.