Adam McGill sworn in as Newman’s top cop

NEWMAN – The city’s new chief of police formally came on board Tuesday, when Adam McGill was sworn in as the Newman Police Department’s top cop.

McGill, a 16-year law enforcement veteran and former lieutenant with the Modesto Police Department, said his focus will be to continue building on the positive strides made in the department, with a community-oriented approach to law enforcement.

He will succeed Randy Ulibarri, who has served as police chief on an interim basis for nearly a year.

McGill said he has been impressed by the police department, city government and the community, factors which piqued his interest in the Newman job.

His extensive experience in Stanislaus County law enforcement was another factor which made the Newman opportunity attractive.

“(Becoming a police chief) has been a career goal of mine, Newman is highly attractive in that it is in the same county I am from so I know all the other members of the law enforcement community here. Those relationships are important,” he commented. “I am also very impressed by what is happening in Newman, and the connection with the community. There is a closeness here.”

McGill’s path into law enforcement started on an unusual note, when at age 13 he was a witness to an armed robbery.

Police in Ceres, where McGill was raised, “kind of took me under their wing,” he recalled.

He rode with officers and hung around the police station until he was old enough to become an Explorer at 16.

McGill graduated from Ceres High in 1991, and was hired on as an officer by the Ceres department before he reached his 19th birthday.

After eight years in Ceres, McGill worked in Fremont for a short time before returning to the valley in 2000, when he joined the Modesto Police Department.

Most recently, he worked as a police officer in Maine for a few months.

“We went for it as a family move, but found out that the grass is not always greener  on the other side,” McGill reflected. “In short order we realized that we had made a mistake and moved back.”

Now, the new chief is looking forward to the opportunity to lead the Newman Police Department.

“The No. 1 priority in any police department is to serve as a law enforcement agency, but beyond that I am very interested in quality of life issues in the community,” he commented. “Within the department, I want to continue forward with some of the things Chief Ulibarri has already done. It was already a professional department when he arrived, but he has raised the bar. I want to continue moving the department forward.”

McGill has served as commander of the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency.

Narcotics enforcement will be a priority, he said, but not at the expense of other law enforcement demands.

“It is a problem in every community, and we will go after it, but that doesn’t mean we will ignore other issues. We will go after whatever needs to be addressed,” he explained.

McGill resides in Modesto and said that while he has no immediate plans to move to Newman he will be highly visible and active in the community.

While the department’s first and foremost responsibility is law enforcement, McGill said, he also wants officers to continue building a positive relationship with the community.

“We want to stay connected to the community, to spend a few extra minutes on a call, to get out of the cars and talk to people and to bend over backward to be helpful,” he reflected. “People call us when something bad is happening, so we can’t always make everybody happy, but we want to provide the best services we can.”

While Newman offers a smaller setting than Modesto, McGill reflected, the two departments share threads common to all law enforcement agencies.

“You deal with the same issues, but they may happen more frequently in Modesto than in Newman. In any law enforcement agency, you will encounter the same things at some point,” the new chief commented. And, he added, “from the city of Los Angeles to the city of Newman, communities want absolute integrity and honesty in any police department. We are entrusted to serve the community, and we can never compromise our integrity.”