Police Chief Announces Retirement After 33 Years of Public ServiceThe City of Sugar Land Police Chief announced his retirement after 33 years of public service. Sugar Land Police Chief Eric Robins plans to retire on June 1, 2022. His 33 years of public service includes 30 at SLPD with four years as its police chief. “I’d like to thank Eric for his unwavering service to our community,” said City Manager Michael W. Goodrum. “His selfless commitment to public service has ensured we remain among the safest cities in nation.”A native Houstonian who has spent almost his entire career with the Sugar Land Police Department, Robins joined SLPD in 1992 as a patrol officer and since served as a detective, sergeant, lieutenant, captain and assistant chief prior to his promotion to police chief in 2018. He served as correctional officer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice from 1989 to 1991. His many accomplishments have included strategies and programs that directly contributed to Sugar Land achieving a crime rate that was the lowest on record. Under his leadership, industry experts credited SLPD as one of the best run agencies they’ve evaluated in the nation. Sugar Land residents gave high marks to Robins and his command staff during the city’s most recent Citizen Satisfaction Survey; excerpts follow:• The major categories of city services that had the highest levels of satisfaction, based upon the combined percentage of “very satisfied” and “satisfied” responses among residents who had an opinion, included the overall quality of police service (93 percent).• Nearly all (98 percent) of the respondents, who had an opinion, indicated they feel “very safe” or “safe” when walking in their neighborhood during the day. • Overall, 93 percent of respondents, who had an opinion, indicated they feel “very safe” or “safe” in their community.• The highest levels of satisfaction with police services, based upon the combined percentage of “very satisfied” and “satisfied” responses among residents who had an opinion, were the overall quality of police protection (92%), how quickly police respond to emergencies (85%), and efforts by City government to prevent crime (79%). Overall, the City of Sugar Land outperformed both the U.S. and Texas averages in all aspects related to City Police Services.“Eric has done an outstanding job in serving our community, and we wish him well in his future endeavors,” said Goodrum. “Our city is safer than ever before. We have some big shoes to fill.” Robins has implemented initiatives to increase police visibility and expand crime analysis to identify resources necessary to address criminal trends. He also managed and created special enforcement teams to target and handle specific high-crime patterns throughout the city, efforts that directly contributed to an historic low crime rate. Robins led technology initiatives such as red light cameras that resulted in a 58 percent reduction of accidents at targeted intersections and a network of license plate recognition cameras that resulted in the arrests of many criminals.Robins led efforts resulting in SLPD’s accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. The review and certification of the department’s policies and procedures, management, operations and support services is considered one of the highest law enforcement recognitions. “I entered this industry to be a change agent, and I feel I have achieved that,” said Robins. “I am hopefully leaving the department with a positive vision for the future. It has been an honor and pleasure to serve this community alongside the men and women of the SLPD. I encourage my colleagues to continue working with commitment and desire to keep the city of Sugar Land the flourishing and safest city in the area.” Plans will be announced in the near future for a comprehensive, nationwide search for Sugar Land’s next police chief. Assistant City Manager Doug Brinkley will assume interim oversight of the police department until a new police chief is selected.