Education
BY VALERIA ESCOBAR
Katy ISD’s Police Chief David Rider on safety, standards and community trust
With more than three decades of experience in law enforcement—most of it spent in school-based policing—David Rider brings both deep expertise and a student-centered approach to his role. In February, he stepped into his newest role as Katy ISD’s police chief after 15 years at neigh- boring Fort Bend ISD. Drawn by the district’s reputation and its proximity to his previous department, he said he saw both as strengths to build on and opportunities to expand safety initiatives districtwide. In a Q&A with Community Impact , Rider dis- cusses his career path, his goals for trust-building across the community and the lesser-known but essential work happening behind the scenes at Katy ISD Police Department—from 24/7 camera monitoring to a gift-giving program supporting hundreds of students. What led you to apply to the police chief position for Katy ISD? The chief’s job opened here and I was trying to help them nd a good chief knowing that I would be working alongside them being in FBISD. But as the process went on, I just felt a calling to come over to KISD. I was familiar with the department, because of our close proximity to each other, and I knew that there were some great things going on here but there were also some opportunities to really bolster the department and really help service the entire KISD community. After a lot of prayer, I just felt like it was the right thing to do for me and my family, and it’s been amazing ever since I got here.
What’s di erent about your role in Katy ISD compared to previous roles? During the COVID years, I was elevated to be on the executive team [at FBISD], which is equiva- lent to the cabinet at KISD. And so in addition to operating and running the whole police depart- ment, I was now working very closely with all the other district leaders. That gave me a really good perspective and insight on how other depart- ments within the district operate and the inner workings of being very close to board members and things like that that I normally wouldn’t have had that opportunity. I’m not on the cabinet [at KISD], but that experience that I had has helped me work with cabinet members here and board members here in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to do before. So my role as a chief, things that we focus on, things that we are invested in from a police department, that really doesn’t change much, but my ability to understand how all the other high level operations of the district work, I believe is very unique to what I’m doing here. What are you most proud of accomplishing since becoming Katy ISD police chief? As I evaluated my transition, I knew there were multiple priorities that I wanted to focus on, and the top priority was getting KISD [police depart- ment] to be an accredited police agency from the Texas Police Chiefs Association. This accredita- tion process is voluntary. It is not something that we’re required to do. To be accredited, we follow 174 best practices in Texas law enforcement. When we follow those best practices, it reduces risk to the district and the department. It ensures
In February, David Rider stepped into his newest role as Katy ISD’s police chief after 15 years at neighboring Fort Bend ISD.
COURTESY KATY ISD
that we’re protecting individual rights. It ensures that we are reviewing all the things that we’re doing on a regular basis and it just makes us a more professional police department, and that’s something that we’re proud to be able to tell our community about.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For a longer version, visit communityimpact.com.
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