King City Police Chief resigns to accept position in Atascadero

KING CITY, Calif. (KION) After more than three years serving as the King City Police Department's Police Chief, Robert Masterson announced that he will be leaving to accept a Police Chief position with the City of Atascadero.

City officials say Masterson's last day will be Jan. 3.

“It has been a joy to have had the honor to work for the City of King.  To see the City staff, under Mr. Adams’ leadership, the council and community working with such a singular goal of making a safer place to live has been an extremely rare pleasure.  I have been amazingly surprised with the positive results that this teamwork has achieved, and it will probably be one of the pinnacles of my working life," Masterson said in a statement.

City Manager Steve Adams says the city saw the number of shootings each year decrease from 32 in 2017 to 4 in the following three years under Masterson and said he led a "dedicated effort to rebuild trust and a positive relationship between the Police Department and community."

Captain Keith Boyd is set to be appointed as Interim Police Chief on Jan. 4. Adams says the process for choosing a new Police Chief will be determined in the next month or two.

According to the City, Boyd earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from CSU Sacramento and a Master of Science in Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership from the University of San Diego.