JM auditorium was packed. There were three important items on the
Moraga Town Council agenda. The first item, however, brought the
largest crowd of friends, family, fellow officers, Moraga town staff
and representatives. All had come to witness the swearing in of
Robert Priebe as Moraga Chief of Police. Bob has been with the
Moraga Police department for 29 years. Chief Priebe thanked many
people, with a special thank you to his wife Tracy for always
supporting him. This special evening was also Bob and Tracy’s 31st
wedding anniversary. He gave Tracy a beautiful bouquet of a dozen
yellow roses to mark the day they said “I do.” Their son Ron was
there to help his Mom pin Bob’s chief’s badge on his uniform. Ron is
29 years old and was 11 days old the day Chief Priebe joined the
Moraga Police Department. Ron is a canine officer with the Pleasant
Hill police department. Bob and Tracy have two other children, who
live out of the area.

His comments about a former Moraga Chief of Police, Brad Kerns, were
especially poignant. Brad was Chief in 2004. Chief Priebe said,
“Chief Kerns was the most important mentor of my life. He opened up a
new way of being for me. I used to be very adversarial. Brad taught
me that I could be a successful police officer by being kind and
respectful. I could still be tough and straight, but being kind would
get me much further with the people with whom I lived and worked.
This was a turning point in my life.”

Moraga is lucky to have Chief Priebe at the helm of the Moraga Police
Department. Welcome, and may you serve Moraga for many years to come.

Edy Schwartz
President, Moraga Chamber of Commerce