For more than a decade, the responsibility of the safety of
every person traveling down the highways in the Hollister and
Gilroy area fell on his shoulders.
For more than a decade, the responsibility of the safety of every person traveling down the highways in the Hollister and Gilroy area fell on his shoulders.
And for more than a decade, California Highway Patrol Capt. Bob Davies shouldered that responsibility in the best way he knew how.
But after 10-and-a-half years leading the region’s office, Davies recently decided to pass the torch so he can focus on the important things his life has to offer.
“Early on in my career, my wife and I set a goal to retire early,” said Davies, who turned 50 last fall and celebrated his 31st wedding anniversary this month. “Once our kids were in college and we were financially secure, we said we would retire and fall back in love again.”
His high school sweetheart, Marla, works at San Benito High School and still has a year to go before she can join Davies pool side at their Hollister home. But until then, Davies is content to putter around his five-acre home, stay involved in several nonprofit groups in the community and lift the weight of 27 years of police work slowly off his shoulders.
Davies, a self-described Air force brat who never lived in once place for long, began his career with the CHP in Los Angeles in 1978. Over the years he worked in the Monterey office, the CHP’s Sacramento headquarters, and held his first commander post in King City.
But it was Hollister where he made his home when he was promoted to commander of the Hollister/Gilroy office more than 10 years ago, and it is Hollister where he plans to stay.
“The longest I’ve ever lived in one house in my whole life is here in Hollister,” he said.
His duties as commander of the local office, which will be taken over by CHP veteran Otto Knorr, included managing the 37 officers under his command, all the administrative functions of the job and strategizing ways to improve the safety on the local roads, which include all of San Benito County and Santa Clara County up to Blossom Hill.
Davies’ commitment to the area and desire to up the standard of community policing made him an asset not only to the CHP, but to every person he worked to serve, said CHP Deputy Commissioner Joe Farrow, No. 2 in command for the state.
While Farrow said he wishes Davies well in his future endeavors, he conceded his insight, devotion and experience will be hard to replace.
“Bob is one of the guys we call quietly efficient,” Farrow said. “He really embraced the community. He even sacrificed a promotion to stay in that community and raise his family there. You have to respect that.”
And it wasn’t just those within the CHP who noticed Davies’ work ethic and consummate professionalism, according to San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill.
Whether it was his compassion in dealing with mass casualty accidents, such as one on Highway 25 several years ago that killed a family of seven, or his strong stance on enforcement at Hollister’s Fourth of July motorcycle rally, Davies always put the community’s needs first, Hill said.
“We’ve had a lot of great CHP commanders, but in my time he was the best one I ever saw,” Hill said. “He did a good job for the county in regards to issues surrounding the roads.”
For Davies, many of those incidents on the roads will be seared, whether he likes it or not, into his mind forever: Deaths of children, some who grew up with his own three kids, senseless accidents and 2am phone calls jolting him awake year after year.
But after all those years – the constant beeping of the pager, the anxiety, the sights and sounds of human life saved and lost – he doesn’t have one regret.
Not when it comes to the job.
“I’m very happy with my career. I feel a tremendous amount of pride over what we’ve accomplished,” Davies said. “I am truly looking forward to the next chapter of my life. I started out in love, I’ve lived my life in love, and I want to end in love, and work’s not going to get in the way.”
Picking up where Davies left off will be Knorr, who has also donned the CHP uniform for the past 27 years.
Knorr, 48, has worked with the organization all over the state, most recently with the Office of Internal Affairs in Sacramento, he said.
Although he concedes he’s got some big shoes to fill, since officially taking over Aug. 1, he’s been familiarizing himself with other local law enforcement leaders and becoming versed on the pertinent issues in the community, Knorr said.
During his first week, Knorr has focused on studying the general traffic growth of the area, specifically what traffic impact development company DMB – which plans to build a mini-city off of Highway 25 – will have on the area, he said.
And while change can be difficult at times, he said the people in the office, along with the pleasant climate and beauty of the area, have made this transition easy.
“This is probably one of the most positive offices I’ve ever been in,” Knorr said. “Bob Davies left a great command in tact through his leadership.”
