Cpl. Derrick Tibbs, an eight-year veteran of the Rockville City Police Department affectionately known as “Officer Smiley,” is in his first year as the department’s community services officer after serving as a patrol officer for most of his career. He took over the role in October from longtime CSO Ken Matney, who was promoted to sergeant. We asked Tibbs about his new role and his plans for community outreach to Rockville residents of all ages.
Tell us about your new role. What do you do as a community services officer?
As the CSO, I am assigned to the Special Operations Unit. The primary function of this position is to administer crime prevention and community outreach programs. I will coordinate department, public and community relations activities by maintaining open lines of communication with the community, assist residents and businesses with security assessments, and meet with community organizations and other groups to foster ongoing communication between the department and community.
How’s it going so far?
Everything is going great! I am actively in neighborhoods and businesses trying to meet the citizens of Rockville. There’s a lot of learning and challenges but I’m enjoying all my experiences, without a doubt.
Any community programs that you’d like to highlight?
National Night Out returns this year, on Tuesday, Aug. 3. We’ll continue to offer opportunities to meet officers throughout the year with Coffee with a Cop events. In May, we completed the latest Senior Police Academy for community members aged 60-plus. We hope to announce the return of the Rockville Community Police Academy soon. I will be visiting all city camps this summer to meet our campers and I’m working on bringing special guests to some.
Anything else we should know?
I am looking forward to one of my biggest projects: starting a Police Athletic/Activities League (national
pal.org) chapter for our Rockville youth. PAL chapters nationwide promote the prevention of juvenile crime and violence by building relationships among kids, cops and the community. PAL offers several programs, including athletics, education, outdoor activities and art programs. The pandemic put things on hold last year, but with COVID-19 restrictions relaxing, I’m hoping we will be good to go this year.