The structure of the Davis Police Department will change slightly under new Police Chief Darren Pytel, who took over in January for retiring Chief Landy Black. The Davis Police Department formally announced it was naming two deputy chiefs, Ton Phan and David Delaini.
The department will keep the remaining three lieutenants in place – Paul Doroshov, Tom Waltz, and Glenn Glasgow.
Ton Phan
Ton has over 30 years of law enforcement experience, first joining the Fairfield Police Department as a police cadet and later serving as a Public Service Employee. In January 1990, after graduating from the police academy, Ton was hired as a police officer with the Davis Police Department. Ton left Davis PD and worked as a police officer in the cities of Fairfield and Vallejo before returning to Davis PD in 2001. Ton was promoted to sergeant in 2002 and lieutenant in 2011.
Ton has worked a number of assignments, including: patrol, traffic/motors, narcotics, investigations, and professional standards. Ton has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Occupational Studies from California State University, Long Beach. He is also a graduate of the International Association of Chiefs of Police – Leadership in Police Organizations program and is currently attending the California Peace Officers Standards and Training Command College.
Ton will oversee police operations, which includes patrol, investigations, and records and communications.
“I look forward to developing our employees and training future leaders in our department,” stated Ton Phan. “I strongly believe in building community partnerships in order for the entire organization to be successful. And I look forward to doing just that.”
David Delaini
David has over 34 years of law enforcement experience, first joining the Davis Police Department as a police cadet in 1982. After graduating from Davis Senior High School, David served in the California Army National Guard as a sergeant in the Military Police Corps. David was deployed to the Middle East and served in the Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm).
After completing his active duty assignment in the National Guard, David returned to Davis PD, serving as a police aide and reserve police officer before being hired as a full-time police officer in 1994. David worked a number of assignments, including: patrol, narcotics, and field training. He was promoted to sergeant in 2002 and served as a watch commander.
David left Davis PD in 2007 to join the West Sacramento Police Department as a lieutenant. During his 8 ½ years with the West Sacramento PD, David served as a commander for every division in the department. David returned to Davis PD on February 15, 2016, as a deputy police chief.
David has Bachelor of Science Degrees in Criminal Justice and Italian from California State University, Sacramento, and a Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. He is also a graduate of the California Peace Officers Standards and Training Command College.
David will oversee administration and professional standards.
“I am very excited about returning to the Davis Police Department,” states David Delaini. “I have lived in Davis most of my life and I am looking forward to working collaboratively with the community that I am proudly a part of.”
In November, the city of Davis announced that it was hiring 32-year veteran police officer, Darren Pytel, as the new chief effective January 1.
Mr. Pytel has over 32 years of public safety experience in Davis, first joining the Davis Police Department in 1983 as a police cadet. He was subsequently promoted to bike enforcement officer, police officer, sergeant/watch commander, lieutenant and captain, and has served as the assistant police chief of the department since 2013.
Mr. Pytel’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from CSU, Sacramento, and a Juris Doctor-Cum Laude from Lincoln Law School.
“Darren Pytel, with his knowledge of Davis and his experience in the field, rose to the top of the applicant pool. He understands the challenges of police work in Davis and has a strong operational and management background. Appointing Assistant Chief Pytel to Police Chief will provide the department with continuity, aid in a smooth transition and continue to develop what is already a very professional department,” stated City Manager Dirk Brazil, who announced the hire while vacationing.
Darren Pytel is replacing current Police Chief Landy Black, who announced his retirement on October 6 and will formally retire on December 31, 2015.
Chief Black has served as the Davis police chief for nearly nine years. “Landy has been instrumental in preserving public safety in Davis and fostering community confidence in the services the department provides. His talent and expertise will be missed,” said Mr. Brazil.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
Great choices by the new Chief.
From Chief Pytel’s perspective, there is no doubt that he made two great choices. But from the perspective of the community, I’m not less clear. Ton Phan seems like a nice guy, but he is also the least experienced of all the previous group of lieutenants and therefore likely the least likely to question Chief Pytel and least likely to pose any kind of political threat. The David Delaini decision is perhaps more disturbing. He was a longtime officer here, very very close to Pytel. He was promoted to Deputy Chief in Davis over the existing lieutenants. Very political choice by Pytel to appoint people who will never challenge or pose a threat to him. Very telling. He has surrounded himself with yes-people – good for himself, not necessarily good for the community.
You are analyzing this through a political prism and not a business one. From a business prism, if you are leader with a vision for what you want to accomplish, you want a team of subordinates that will support that vision and help you carry it out.
Politics really has no business being injected into the business of policing. It is already a difficult enough business.
I’m a bit surprised by your comment. You seem to believe that you need yes-people in order to bring people on board who share a vision. I think an organization is stronger when you have people who share your vision but are not afraid to challenge you when things could get tricky or mistakes are made. My problem is that he brought in people who won’t provide for that kind of robust decision-making.
I’ve heard nothing but good things about David Delaini and Ton Phan. If Chief Pytel works well with them then it makes sense that he will want to have them as his co-deputies. That’s smart!
Congratulations to them for their promotions and to Pytel for putting a good team together.
We have faced some challenging times with increased burglaries in Davis and crimes associated to the downtown bar scene, so it’s important to have a good team in place at the DPD. I think we need a good 3 to 5 more good officers.
It’s so nice having the view of an anonymous person to explain the inner workings of personnel choices in the police department. Especially because since we don’t know who they are, no one can inquire about the possible motivations for their statements. So by all means, believe them! Welcome to the Vanguard Comments section. The Enterprise has something parallel, called the Comics Section.
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Seems like a person as smart as you think you are could ask questions to determine the basis for an opinion rather than seek out motivations to attempt to discredit that opinion. But that’s just me.
“The Enterprise has something parallel, called the Comics Section.”
No, that would be about any comment you make.