By Linda Taaffe
Those who know Sgt. Dennis Loucks weren’t surprised when he stepped forward after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to oversee a local police fund for victims in New York City that ultimately raised $100,000. Community outreach was a priority during Loucks’ nearly three decades on the Los Altos Police force.
His was often the face residents would see on the street or at their doorstep. If a news story about a Los Altos crime were to appear in the local newspaper, Loucks would commonly call victims to alert them as a courtesy.
The third-generation Los Altan, whose family has a street named after it on the location of the Loucks’ former property near San Antonio Road and El Camino Real, retired Aug. 2. Loucks said he plans to move to the Central Coast with his wife and two children.
“(Dennis) is the easiest, most well-rounded person I’ve worked with,” Police Chief Don Johnson said.
After graduating from Awalt High School, now Mountain View High, Loucks joined the Mountain View Police Department as a cadet in 1974. He became an officer in 1975. Three years later, he joined the Los Altos Police Department, where he stayed for the rest of his law enforcement career. He retired briefly in 1988 to pursue private industry.
Loucks worked his way up from a field training officer, to patrol officer, detective and sergeant.
Loucks said the day-to-day variety of police work kept his job interesting, but the constant community contact is what kept law enforcement dear to his heart.
Loucks was among the first police officers in the country to take special terrorist preparedeness training in Maryland after 9/11. He used those skills to help launch the Community Emergency Response Training program in Los Altos with Officer John Korges.
Through the program, they qualified more than 100 residents in emergency response techniques during the 18-hour course. Prior to this program, no emergency training of this kind was available in Los Altos.
“The certified group really has been one of my most fond memories,” Loucks said. “In law enforcement, you don’t always see the positive side of everything. That was great.”
