Mr. West has over 30 years of law enforcement experience, having worked at various levels within the largest state law enforcement agency in California and fifth largest in the nation. His experience with the Department included time as a Motor Officer and Sergeant, a Commercial Vehicle Officer, a Tactical Instructor, a Mobile Field Force Leader, and as the Department Occupational Safety Manager. In 2016, he was appointed as the Regular Basic Course Director for the largest Police Academy in California, pioneering change in curriculum delivery with a focus on officer wellness and stress resiliency first. He has served as an advisor to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) relative to officer safety, curriculum design, and crisis intervention training. Mr. West commanded a state-of-the-art Commercial Vehicle Enforcement facility in California and served as Commander for the Department’s hiring and recruitment, crisis intervention training, and Field Officer training programs. Mr. West ended his career with a large command in a busy metropolitan area.
A staunch advocate for officer safety and wellness, he and his team were recognized twice by receiving the prestigious California POST Excellence in Training Award for the development and execution of new, innovative training programs. A founding board member and National Instructor of Below 100, he has dedicated his career to preventing and reducing deaths in the line of duty and injury across the country.
Mr. West also has extensive leadership, operational, and training experience, serving in the United States Air Force, finishing his military service as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Director of Security Forces, Headquarters Air Force, Washington DC. He was responsible for organizing, training, and equipping more than 38,000 active, guard, and reserve Air Force personnel. His extensive knowledge of contemporary Use of Force guidelines led to his selection as lead author in overhauling Use of Force policy for the US Air Force. After 33 years of service, Mr. West retired at the rank of Chief Master Sergeant in 2022.
“I really want to express my appreciation for this work that’s been done in a collaborative way in which the study was put together. . . . I’ve seen a number of studies start in the fire department and this is the first one I can remember that has actually been fully completed and brought to the council, and it was done in a very thorough fashion. This is the best assemblage of comprehensive information about the fire department today, as well as what our needs might be in the future, that I have seen. So thanks to everyone. Thank you, Stewart, for giving us our money’s worth on our consultant contract with you.”
City Manager City of San Luis Obispo
“I am really, really impressed. I am impressed at the exhaustiveness of your study, impressed at the honesty and candor with which you expressed your findings; I am very impressed at the constructive tone of it, and that you came in under budget as well. So, thank you very much. I think that this document is going to be a cornerstone for us really moving forward for the next five, ten, twenty [years], half a century.”
Salt Lake City Council Meeting
“I wanted to offer my compliments to Citygate, to Mr. Gary for this very comprehensive report.”
San Luis Obispo Council Member
“I really, really enjoyed reading your Word product. I appreciate the fact that it was direct, it was constructive, and . . . it wasn’t finger-pointing, it was just . . . the facts. And I think that the money was well spent.”
Salt Lake City Council Meeting
“Thank you very much for a comprehensive report. Thank you.”
Palm Springs
“I was absolutely thrilled with the report because it was very comprehensive, very detailed. I call it the ‘time-in-motion study’ almost and some of the aspects [are] ‘how does your paper flow? How can you make your processes better? . . . As a government agency, how can we provide better service to the constituents?’ And to us we think that this study identifies those things down to all of the small paper processes and flows.”
Retired City Manager City of Vista, CA
“Thank you so much for this training. This was the best PIO training I’ve ever received.”
S-403 Information Officer class participant
“Thank you so much for all you have done. And it’s so comprehensive, I know it’s going to take a while for us to digest it all, but I think you’ve come up with some really good recommendations.”
Pro Tempore City of Vista, CA
“I think Citygate has done a great job. It seems like you’ve been most thorough and even-handed in your evaluations and you’ve given us certainly a lot of suggestions and guidelines to work with.”
City of Vista, CA
“I think this is one of the most comprehensive reports and I think probably one of the best presented reports I’ve seen in my years in government service. I want to start off by commending you for that and acknowledge that the work that you were able to do with cooperation from all of the different firefighting agencies in this region was second-to-none.”
Supervisor First District San Diego County