Full Notification

The men and woman of SMPD finest recognize and applaud Chief Manheimer’s recognition by the San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce on the Frances Nelson Bohannon Legacy Award. Chief Manheimer humbly accepted the award, along with several honors for our invaluable Chiefs Cabinet of the Police Activities League- John Adams and Phil Raiser (Raiser Construction) 
 
Chief Manheimer stated that the recognition is really based on the dedicated work done each and every day by our police staff who embody our slogan “Protect with Honor and Serve with Pride.” Our dedicated policing strives to enhance our quality of life for all who live, work, and play in San Mateo every day!

For an inside look at the Chief's full acceptance speech scroll below:

"It has been a pleasure working with all of our partners at Hillsdale Mall and the Bohannon Group. You all are exemplary and dedicated community benefactors and bring great joy to those of us in line for some retail therapy and great dining! I cannot wait for your new development to open in the North block!

I am just so humbled and delighted to accept the Frances Bohannon Nelson legacy award. In fact, it is even more meaningful as I had the great honor of knowing Frances Nelson, a gracious model for all women as a business icon, parent, civic leader and philanthropist. Frances and I shared a deep commitment to this community and a vision for its future that will remain her legacy well into that future.

After being appointed Chief of Police in 2000, I had the pleasure of meeting many of our community and civic leaders. I so clearly remember that fall day that I had occasion to meet Frances and we developed a bond that I will always cherish. She being a straight talker – for those of you who knew her well – and I being from the Bronx – we really hit it off! She had invited me to lunch with the guys – Larry and Bob Webster, and she shared the amazing story of how her family had acquired and developed the land they owned into the vibrant commercial and residential areas it is today. What an amazing and inspiring story and an equally amazing and inspiring woman. She inquired at that time what I hoped to achieve in my new role, and I had thought a lot about that since recently being appointed and sharing my vision broadly.

I wanted the San Mateo Police Department to be recognized as the top law enforcement and crime prevention agency in the County and throughout the State as the standard-bearer for inclusivity and community policing. I wanted a department that paved the way for innovative homeless outreach and trauma informed care for all vulnerable victims. Perhaps most importantly, I shared our city’s deep pride and goal of making our city the Crown Jewel of the Peninsula.

I not only promised Frances that day, but also I promised all of our community when I took my oath of office 17 years ago that the San Mateo Police Department would be second to none and our men and women would be leaders on the local and regional and national level. Today, thanks to the hard work and dedication of the amazing men and women of the SMPD, with the unfailing support and trust of our City, our County, and our civic, community, and business leaders, we have achieved all of those objectives and more.

Our first responders, who run to danger where others flee, understand their greater role in enhancing our quality of life here and bringing added value and benefit to those they serve. Each day with each contact, they reinforce our slogan that our Department recently adopted and painted on the sides of all of our patrol vehicles: to “Protect with Honor and Serve with Pride.”

I also pledged to Frances and the Bohannon group that day that we in policing understood that we had an important stake in driving the economic engine of our community. That our goals for our community were the same: providing a safe and vibrant quality of life for our residents and merchants. What a great community we are a part of - as I look around this room I can safely say that our department and our people have worked side by side with so many of you to elevate our community – all of our community, and to make it a thriving and vibrant city.

The business improvement projects that we undertook in the city have continued to enhance our business climate. Anyone remember the Disney-ification of the Downtown with the cinema project? You may not have known that we first launched our highly acclaimed Homeless Outreach Team at that time as our Downtown Beat officers partnered with the Chamber, the DSMA, and many of the County agencies and service providers represented here today to house all of the chronic homeless in the downtown. Little did we know how successful that program would be in housing the homeless that the city would create housing and the program would expand countywide? Yep – all our city’s want some of what San Mateo’s got! That is the power of policing when we get it right and do it alongside our many partners as part of supporting and lifting up this great community!

I also would want Frances to know, and I think she would appreciate, that our Department has made keeping our children safe and on a healthy track regardless of where they live or what their barriers, as our first priority. We work hard to help them maximize their potential and our future workforce and our Police Activities League partners with so many represented in this room to invest and develop our most precious asset - our children as they are - after all - our future.

This year as we celebrate the 20^th Dinner anniversary of PAL, the San Mateo Police Activities League continues to grow and expand opportunities for our kids. They build trusting relationships with our Police officers and participate in programs to develop them and keep them engaged, in school, out of jail, and on a path to a bright future.

PAL represents a powerful partnership between our officers, our Parks and Recreation staff and our community leaders, many of whom selflessly commit their time and resources and serve on our Board of Directors. So many of them are here tonight because like all of you and just like me – our day jobs are simply the starting point for the extra time and energy and resources that we invest to keep this a great community. It’s no surprise to us that each year this Chamber honors some of our PAL Board members in recognition of how much they all do!

Thank you, San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce, for recognizing me – which is - in reality really the work that all of the members of our department do to meet our commitments to this community.

Receiving this award in Frances Nelson’s name is the icing on this cake. The legacy that Frances imprinted on this community and encouraged me to create was one of trailblazer, devoted family matriarch, dedicated philanthropist, and adventurous lover of life, her family, and her community. She both encouraged and inspired ME to create and contribute to the betterment of our community, and I deeply hope that she would be proud of what we have achieved in the City where she left her enduring mark.

Thank you for this great honor in her name and I hope I have done her proud."

- Chief Susan Manheimer