The Ripon Police Department announced the passing of Retired Chief Richard (Dick) Bull.
He passed away Tuesday afternoon at his home surrounded by his family, Ripon Police announced via social media.
Bull served as the Ripon police chief for nearly a decade – from Sept. 6, 2000 through Aug. 20, 2010.
Among his many contributions included moving the department forward with technological along with exponential growth.
Those contributions included:
*a take-home police car program that was focused on discouraging burglars from scouting the city’s neighborhoods.
*the city-wide MESH camera network put digital video cameras throughout the city and its school campuses with the feeds going into the police dispatch center. License plate readers have been installed above traffic lanes to spot stolen cars coming into the community with an alert going to the dispatch center.
*securing one of three powered parachute aviation units nationwide through the Department of Justice that was used in finding lost rafters floating down the Stanislaus River. The aviation unit also played its part in discouraging home burglaries causing their incidence to drop some 64 percent in 10 months.
*installing a variety of devices in patrol cars to make policing by his officers more effective. Included were mobile vision video cameras, dash-mounted radar units, mobile computer systems, mobile Blue Check wireless IDs, driver license magnetic stripe readers and Noptic Thermal Imaging Devices.
For those efforts he received the California Police Chief’s Association Joe Molloy Award. Bull was also credited for the many technical awards the Ripon Police received during his tireless efforts with the National Institute of Justice and other entities.
His devotion to public service spanned 34 years.
Bull, in addition to the RPD, served as Chief of Police with the Red Bluff Police Department from 1990 to 2000; Chief of Police with the Patterson Police Department from 1985 to 1990; and Deputy Sheriff with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department.
With the latter, he survived an ambush in the police department’s parking lot facility while serving the community of Patterson. Bull, who was shot nine times, pushed an extensive recovery time to return to duty. He continued to be an asset to the various agencies in which he served.
“Dick’s foresight and transformative ideas are still felt in the law enforcement community today,” Ripon Police said in Wednesday’s post, mourning the loss of a great friend and mentor. “His love of Ripon and good works within our community has continued to move us forward into the future.”
Bull obtained an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Modesto Junior College in 1976 and later earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration from the University of San Francisco.
