Candidate for
Council Member; City of Covina

Walter Allen III

Governor Schwarzenegger's Assistant Secretary, Office of Correctional Safety, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Retired

On January 31, 2006 Walter Allen III formally retired after a more than 30 year career in Law Enforcement. In his last two years of duty, Walter served as a Governor Schwarzenegger appointee. On July 1, 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Walter Allen III Assistant Secretary of the Office of Correctional Safety for the newly reorganized Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), which would be his last assignment as law enforcement executive prior to his retirement. The Office of Correctional Safety oversees law enforcement, safety, and security issues in all youth and adult correctional facilities and tracks high-risk parolees.

In this role, Walter was also charged with consolidating virtually all law enforcement functions within the department, including major criminal investigations, fugitive apprehension, intelligence operations, gang interdiction, special investigations, and departmental safety and security operations. This objective marked the first time in the department's history that such an effort was undertaken. The primary mission of the new Office Correctional Safety is to get dangerous parolees off the streets of California and to maintain safe and secure environments within correctional facilities. In his position, Allen mobilized teams of trained peace officers to target specific problems and the unit provided a variety of services to correctional facilities and parole operations.

Prior to this appointment, Walter Allen served as the Governor's last Director of the former California Youth Authority (CYA), which is now called the Division of Juvenile Justice within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Appointed as Director of the CYA on December 9, 2003 by Governor Schwarzenegger, Walter ran one of the largest youth corrections agencies in the nation. This agency has a mission to protect the public from criminal activity by providing education, training and treatment services for youthful offenders committed by the courts. It also encourages the development of state and local programs to prevent crime and delinquency, including instilling the principles of restorative justice, for both wards and parolees under the department's jurisdiction.

Before being named by Gov. Schwarzenegger to head the CYA, Walter Allen served as an Assistant Chief for the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE). His law enforcement career has spanned more than three decades, beginning in 1976 when he served as a patrolman with the California State University Police Department, Fullerton Campus. In 1978 he transferred to the Chino Police Department where he served as a police officer, patrol corporal, SWAT Team member and field training officer.

In 1981, Walter was hired by the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement as a Special Agent and was assigned to the Los Angeles Field Office where he worked narcotics in an undercover capacity for approximately seven years. In 1987, shortly after being promoted to Special Agent Supervisor, he was transferred to Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement Headquarters in Sacramento where he served as the Bureau Training Coordinator, Chief Combat Firearms Instructor and Special Agent Academy Officer Survival and Tactical Instructor. In 1990 he left narcotics and became the Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Organized Crime and Crime Intelligence, Southern California field operation in San Diego and Los Angeles.

In 1992 he returned to narcotics as a Special Agent in Charge of Los Angeles and Orange counties and in 2001, he was promoted to Senior Special Agent in Charge in Los Angeles. In 2002, Walter moved to Sacramento to become the Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

Allen has been recognized throughout the nation as an expert in these subjects having provided certified narcotic officer training in California, Georgia, Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii and for Mexico. He has also served as an instructor for the nationally recognized California National Guard National Interagency Counter Drug Institute (NICI) in San Luis Obispo, California.

Born and raised in a low-income neighborhood in Oakland, California, with the help of his father Walter Sr. and Mother Gladys, Walter realized very early in life the importance of an education and hard work. He earned a track scholarship to Saint Joseph's Boy's High School in Alameda and was an active participant in the Civil Air Patrol.

When a medical disqualification ended his dream of attending the Air Force Academy, Walter did not give up. He instead, pursued higher education, first at the community college level and then finishing up at California Polytechnic University in Pomona. During his one year at community college he continued to participate in the Civil Air Patrol, eventually becoming the first African American Cadet Lieutenant Colonel in the state. After a city planning internship with the City of Oakland, Walter was accepted into Cal Poly's Urban Planning program where he became active in student government, eventually becoming the university's first African American student body president in 1973. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Urban Planning from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Walter has kept active in local politics and was elected to the Covina City Council in 1997; he served as the Mayor Pro Tem in 1999 and was elected in 2001 for a second term as a City Councilman. He became Mayor Pro Tem for the Covina City Council in 2002 and served as the Mayor of the City of Covina in 2004 and completed his term as a council member March 2005. Walter received the National WeTip, Incorporated, Mayor of the Year Award in 2003 -- marking the third time he received an award for community service efforts from WeTip in four years.

Recognizing his law enforcement expertise, Gov. Pete Wilson appointed Allen to the state's Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Advisory Board and Gov. Gray Davis subsequently reappointed him. In 1999, he was also awarded the California Department of Justice's Medal of Meritorious Service by the State Attorney General for life saving efforts. In addition, Walter is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Walter is an active member of the California Peace Officer's Association (CPOA) and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) and recently received the 2005 NOBLE Award of Merit for outstanding service to the community. Walter is also a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and also received the 2005 Western Region Alpha Award of Merit for leadership and community service. Walter also served as the President of the California Narcotic Officers' Association (CNOA) in 2000 and continues to serve as an executive board member for CNOA. The CNOA's primary mission is to provide state-of-the-art narcotic enforcement-related training and education to police officers throughout California and the United States. The CNOA is also very active in state and national legislative matters which impact narcotic enforcement efforts, laws and public safety and provides financial assistance to the surviving family members of police officers killed in the line of duty.

On January 19, 2006, the Covina Chamber of Commerce and the City of Covina honored Walter as its 2005 Covina Citizen of the Year. Walter was recently appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Criminal Justice Council and also served as the Governor's Reelection Campaign Co-Chair for his 2006 reelection efforts.

Walter and wife, Patricia, have been married for more than 34 years and have one son, Walter David, who is an information technology manager in Orange County. In his spare time, Walter spends quality time with wife Pat and finds the time to participate in competitive championship trap and Skeet shooting events as a member of the LAPD Trap and Skeet Team, and snow skis, enjoys fishing, and rides his Harley Davidson motorcycle.

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