Captain Justin Risley
The youngest of three boys, Captain Justin Risley grew up in Santa Rosa, California. Captain Justin Risley is a 25-year-veteran of the Sacramento Police Department. He has worked in every division in the organization. Early in his career he became a Problem Oriented Police Officer where he worked primarily in the Oak Park community where he developed many life-long friendships and is proud of the partnerships he formed, working together to make our community better. He went on to work in Investigations in the Homicide Assaults Unit. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2002, where he represented the department as its spokesperson for nearly four years. After this he supervised many talented officers on patrol teams throughout the city until ultimately being one of the founding members of the Gang Enforcement Teams. In this assignment he was instrumental in the transition from the violence program named Ceasefire, into what we now know as Cops and Clergy. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 2012 and as a Watch Commander was assigned to an area of responsibility that at the time, struggled with violent crime. He successfully collaborated with the Mack Road Partnership and community to help start Summer Night Lights, a program that brought the community together and led to reductions in crime. He also played a pivotal role in establishing Nextdoor.com out of the south command, where he collaborated with many community associations. He then went on to our Metro Division overseeing numerous specialty teams. It was in this assignment that he and his team took the lead on researching and purchasing our newest air operations asset, a Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopter. He also was the project manager for the procurement and implementation of our body-worn cameras. Captain Justin Risley was also proud to support his teams who were instrumental in creating the traffic and security plans for the new Golden One Center. He went on to be the acting Captain of the Metro Division for a year until moving on to the Executive Lieutenant job at the Central Command. In this position he was integral in dealing with many protests that occurred downtown starting in the spring of 2018. In his latest assignment he has served as the Chief of the Sacramento Regional Transit Police Services, where he leads over 100 sworn and professional staff. Sacramento RT has been recently recognized for having one of the safest transit systems in the country.
Captain Risley has a B.A. in business administration then chose to pursue higher education in the form of a law degree well into his policing career. He is also a graduate of P.O.S.T’s Command College and the Senior Management Institute for Police. He represents the organizations statewide interests as a member of the California Peace Officers’ Association (CPOA), as a member of the Law and Legislative Committee and voted to be a Trustee of its Legal Defense Fund. He has received numerous accolades over his career such as a Unit Citation for his work as the co-founder of the Gang Enforcement Teams. He also received Distinguished Service Awards for his work on the body-worn camera project as well as the plan for our new arena, The Golden One Center. He was one of several that received a California State Senate Resolution for his work in developing virtual neighborhood watch groups through Nextdoor.com
In his free time, Captain Risley pushes himself to improve and develop himself personally and professionally. He loves new challenges and opportunities to grow and says he happiest when learning something new. When he’s not working, you can find Justin in the gym, reading, spending time with friends and family, on the slopes, or anywhere outdoors.
Justin is honored to have his brother, Captain David Risley pin his badge today.