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Roseville Police Chief Hits Streets To Connect With Community, Officers

ROSEVILLE (CBS13) — Roseville Police Chief Daniel Hahn is heading for his office, but it's not what you think.

Whenever he can, Hahn hops into a patrol car to ride with the men and women sworn to serve. It's a hands-on approach to connect during difficult times.

The flag at the Roseville Police station has been flying at half-staff often lately, most recently for a fallen officer gunned down in San Antonio. But it's a symbol that's also a reminder to the men and women who wear the uniform that there's still work to be done.

"In tough times and good times, they still have a job to do, and our community expects us to be out on the street, doing our job everyday," Hahn said.

On this ride with officer Mykal Barbour, the one-time Sacramento police captain reminds us he loves being chief.

"But I also don't want to lose touch with what the realities are out on the streets as I work in my office and go to meetings all day," he said.

His first meeting on the outing is with a man holding a shattered cellphone and scattered thoughts. He's familiar to Barbour—it's part of the officer's job to reach out to citizens like this man who may be dealing with mental health issues.

He offers a phone number for the man to talk out some of his issues.

Another call centers on what some neighbors thought was a hateful symbol on a front door. Instead, it turned out to be a symbol of peace—a swastika with four dots that long preceded what a similar symbol became under Hitler's rule in Germany.

"I just want to let you guys know they put that on their own door so nobody vandalized it," Hahn said.

One more stop has become one of the more dangerous for law enforcement—pulling over a driver and not knowing what to expect. As Hahn watches with an eagle eye, he'll be the first to tell you there's no such thing as a routine traffic stop these days.

Thankful, this one was uneventful—a busted brake light.

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