New, but not new, leaders for Hillsborough

“This is our 10th chief, I was the ninth and I worked for five other chiefs so I had all that mentorship coming up working for other people that have been in the town for quite a bit of time,” Davis said. “It’s a group idea and as you pass on that torch to the next person, those same ideas continue.”

Mayor Christine Krolik said the transition has been seamless as both Davis and Corteway step into their respective roles.

“Doug knows and respects our community and our community knows and respects him,” Krolik said. “Our public safety team never knows what is going to happen on their watch on any given day. The chief of police must be able to assess situations quickly and effectively problem solve every single day. So, having a city manager who is adept in this way is a tremendous asset to our town.”

Hillsborough doesn’t have a downtown or retail storefronts but its leafy streets are lined with large and expensive homes. Recently, the town has seen an uptick in residential burglaries and Corteway said he’s making it a priority to educate the residents and adjust as the crimes are more organized than in the past.

“Our priority is community safety and that is something that we take very seriously and we go to the end of the Earth to investigate those crimes [burglaries],” Corteway said.

The town has a new license plate reader program that will soon have more than 20 license plate readers throughout the area, which can help the police identify suspect vehicles.

“It’s not a magic bullet that stops everything,” Corteway said, who added the project will be completed in the fall.

The police department offers a free home security evaluation. Crime prevention officers inspect homes and help give homeowners a working plan on what aspects of the home are vulnerable to break-ins and offer tactics to help make it more secure, Corteway said.

It’s important to keep the homeowners aware because burglars have advanced over the years. It’s changed from daytime to nighttime, burglars are looking for obvious signs a home is unoccupied, they work in teams and are often found to communicate with each other during crimes, he added.

However, the police department teamed up with the residents by encouraging neighbors to communicate when they leave for vacations and to report suspicious activities.

“We rely on our citizens to be part of the team, and they are very good at that, we have a great partnership with the community, they call in suspicious things, they know their neighborhood, so when things don’t feel right they give us a call and they are our first set of eyes and ears on the ground,” Corteway said.

The department is hosting Neighborfest Sept. 30 at the Hillsborough North School. The event will focus on emergency preparedness, crime prevention and police demonstrations. Corteway plans to introduce himself as the chief, listen to concerns and answer questions.

Even though the position for Corteway is new, the town is not new to him. He’s served in its police department for the past 27 years, which comes with an array of accomplishments and qualifications such as SWAT team member, corporal, sergeant, crime scene technician, police inspector and hostage negotiator.

Davis had served for the town’s police department for the last 33 years. He was involved in the SWAT team, San Mateo County Gang Task Force and San Mateo County Terrorism Response team.

His collaborative experience in law enforcement will help him succeed as the town’s city manager, he said. He echoed Corteway’s priority toward community safety and said his focus on town business is aligning with the state’s assigned housing requirements. To address the region’s jobs-housing imbalance, the state assigned the town to plan for 554 new affordable housing units by 2031. The cities don’t need to build the housing, but must plan for the housing.

“We have some very creative staff and I am here to give them all the support they need, to come up with the best solutions,” Davis said. “While I am learning every day, we have some great people involved in that and it’s my job to provide them with all the tools they need and freedom to come up with some creative solutions.”