History of the
Northern California
Peace Officers Association
The Northern California Peace Officers Association (NCPOA) was founded in 1934 by leaders of the law-enforcement community throughout the Sacramento area.
It was formally organized in 1952 with the election of Sacramento Chief of Police Jim Hicks as the first NCPOA President.
In 1978 The NCPOA was incorporated as a tax-exempt non-profit association.
In 2011 the NCPOA Scholarship Fund was recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt public charity.
Since its original inception, the NCPOA has grown to over 400 members representing both active and retired public safety personnel from federal, state, county, and local public safety agencies.
The primary mission of the NCPOA is to provide scholarships to juniors and seniors enrolled in the Criminal Justice program at California State University Sacramento.
The NCPOA has awarded well over $250,000.00 in scholarships to over 200 deserving students. Many of these recipients have gone on to have distinguished careers in public safety, parole, probation and corrections.
The NCPOA is also dedicated to improving communications within the criminal justice system and enhance recruitment of well qualified candidates into the law enforcement profession. As well as the advancement of the art and science of police administration, to secure cooperation and coordination of all law enforcement matters, and to achieve the adherence of all peace officers to the highest professional standards of conduct.
Donations to the NCPOA Scholarship Fund are greatly appreciated. The NCPOA Scholarship Fund is a registered 501 (c)( 3) public charity and donations to the Fund are fully tax deductible. Tax ID # 27-4822850
2021 - 2022 NCPOA Newsletters
Catch up on all our monthly newsletters in one place
September 2021 News
Because of government-mandated COVID related restrictions, NCPOA was unable to hold the election of new officers until now. However, members of the 2019-2020 Board of Directors have continued working on your behalf throughout this entire quarantine period. The long-delayed election will be held at the September meeting.
October 2021 News
We had a great turnout for the meeting in Grass Valley. It was good to see many of our friends. Our Host Nevada County Sheriff Shannon Moon and some of her staff cooked up their traditional BBQ Tri-tip and served a delicious meal to our attendees. Sheriff Moon provided the history of her family in law enforcement and how the department handled the evacuation of residents during wildfires in Nevada County.
November 2021 News
We had another great meeting at SPOA Headquarters, Host Chief Hahn was unable to attend, but he was well represented by Deputy Chief Kathy Lester who provided a well-informed talk of the department’s challenges for the last two years. The department also provided a demonstration of some of their drones and how they are used in policing tactics. Additionally, outside was their SWAT Vehicle with two Sac PD officers.
December 2021 Newsletter
Our November meeting was hosted by POST Assistant Director Maria Sandoval and West Sacramento Chief of Police Rob Strange. This was our first meeting hosted by POST and was held at their West Sacramento Headquarters. Assistant Director Maria Sandoval spoke to the membership about training standards and the coordination of training documents. Rob Strange gave a presentation on West Sac policing and brought three members from the force who demonstrated the use of Drone’s at the department.
January 2022 Newsletter
Our final meeting of 2021 was hosted by Elk Grove’s Chief of Police Timothy Albright and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones. Sheriff Jones was unable to attend, but Chief Deputy James Barnes represent him and the department. Chief Albright brought his Assistant Chief of Police Bobby Davis who is a retired Chief Deputy from The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. Each Department brought a beautiful gift basket that was auctioned off to benefit the Scholarship Fund.
February 2022 Newsletter
Our January meeting was hosted by Amador County Sheriff Gary Redman, who invited Jackson COP Chris Mynderup, Sutter Creek COP Jim O’Connell, Ione COP Jeff Arnold and Amador Area CHP Commander Todd Thibodeau. Each of them provided interesting information on the goings on in their jurisdictions. We had a good turnout, glad to see so many members and friends in attendance to support this area’s law enforcement agencies. Our meeting was held at the Jackson American Legion Post 108 Hall. The Legion’s Auxiliary provided a well decorated hall and tables for our meeting.
March 2022 Newsletter
Our February meeting was hosted by El Dorado County Sheriff John D’Agostini who welcomed guests and talked of his retirement. He was joined by Captain Matthew Foxworthy (Placerville Police Chief) and Lt. Brian Cocagne (CHP South Lake Tahoe Area Commander) who each gave a presentation on areas of concern for their departments. NCPOA President Larry Bowler presented the Sheriff with our Honorary Life Membership thanking him for the many years he hosted our meetings in El Dorado County. Our meeting was held at the Placerville American Legion Post 119 Hall with a good turnout.
April 2022 Newsletter
We had our Scholarship Luncheon at the Pat O’Brien Community Center in Sacramento. Those attending viewed the presentation of seven scholarships this year, to an outstanding group of students from CSUS. They each received scholarship awards of $2,000.00. Each was accompanied by very proud families and friends to witness the honor. Dr. Uwazie, Chairman of the CJ Department at CSUS spoke to the membership and families and commended NCPOA’s continued presentations of financial awards to the students. If you have not already done so take the opportunity to view pictures of the event on the NCPOA Facebook.
May 2022 Newsletter
Our April luncheon was at the Auburn American Legion Veterans Hall, Host Sheriff Devon Bell was there along with many of his department personnel to welcome our members. Sheriff Bell is retiring after the June election, so we took the opportunity to thank him for his years of support, by making him an Honorary Life member of NCPOA. Auburn Lt. Brian Morrison on behalf of COP Ryan Kinnan spoke of the great law enforcement support provided in the area. CHP was represented by Auburn commander Captain Brandon Straw giving information on keeping our roadways safe and Gold Run Lt. Frank Newman spoke of the late year heavy snow causing many delays on Interstate 80 for those heading over the summit. Our new COP of the City of Rocklin, Rustin Banks, came by for a visit. It was good to hear from the local community’s law enforcement.
Meet Our Board of Directors & Executive Team Members
The NCPOA holds annual elections for it's Board of Director positions. The elected officers comprise of sworn law enforcement professional who have held leadership positions within their respective agencies.
Larry Bowler
President
Lieutenant, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department (Ret.) & Assemblyman 10th District
Tom Guichard
Vice President
Sacramento County Sheriff's Dept. (Ret) & California State Bar Investigator
Barbara Smith
Sergeant-at-Arms
Sacramento County Sheriff's Dept. (Ret)
Gina DiNapoli
Recording Secretary
Lt. Sacramento Police & Chief of Police San Jose State Univ. (Ret.)
Chris Champlin
Executive Director
Marin County Sheriff's Dept., Clearlake PD , City of Rocklin Police & Fire
Pending
Treasurer
Pending Appointment by BOD
Hal Barker
Past President / BOD
El Dorado County Sheriff (Ret.) & Chief of Police City of Folsom (Ret.)
Val Kobza
Former Executive Director / Interim Treasurer
Chief Deputy, Sacramento Sheriff's Department (Ret.)
Judy Denton
Past President / BOD
Deputy Coroner, Sacramento County (Ret.)
Jim Ortega
Scholarship Manager
Placerville Chief of Police (Ret.), Sacramento County Sheriff Captain
Marcia Whitaker
NCPOA Merchandise & Raffle Coordinator
Union City Police & Mountain View Fire
Dottie Greene
Newsletter
Associate Member