By Special to the Town Crier

Los Altos’ Don Johnson may not star in a television detective show, but his face is well known in the community. In his first year as Los Altos police chief, Johnson has dived into his job, making community involvement a priority at the police department.

Local schools have welcomed Johnson into the classroom. He recently served on a panel that listened to students read their work.

Johnson said he “puts a friendly, smiling face on police for youth who have not had police contact” - something he calls preventive police work.

Johnson has seen that his team members are involved in other proactive operations: Officer John Korges and Sergeant Dennis Loucks work on the Los Altos, Mountain View and Santa Clara County interagency training and drilling for disaster preparedness; Officer Paul Arguelles is working toward countywide traffic planning; and Sergeant Matt Hartley works with the Explorer Scouts, giving them exposure to the field of law enforcement.

Johnson is personally involved with many community organizations, including the Los Altos Village Association and the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce. Both organizations promote the Los Altos business community through organized events. Johnson has provided valuable input into the planning for these and other community events to provide safe and legal implementation.

Johnson is on the planning committee for the upcoming 23rd Annual Los Altos Arts and Wine Festival, coordinating the parking logistics for the estimated 150,000 people expected to attend the two-day event.

Johnson, who lives just across the Los Altos border in Sunnyvale, served on that city’s police force before coming to Los Altos.

He keeps himself in shape at the early morning boot camp at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills. In July he will be doing the Death Ride in the Sierra Mountains - a bicycle trek that gains 16,000 feet in elevation within a distance of 136 miles.

Johnson said he has a soft spot for animals. He and his wife, Denise, have two dogs and three rabbits. They are involved in Santa Clara County Animal Rescue.

So, with all of these virtues, what are his vices? Nothing he’d admit to, but then he said with a chuckle, “as long as I don’t get caught.”