Meet Folsom's new police chief: Excited to be here, eager to learn

A long time ago in the tiny California town of Eureka (population 26,805, according to the 1980 Census), young Adam Green would sometimes hear a police siren in the distance. Fueled by curiosity, Green would hop on his bike and try to find out what was going on. As long as he can remember, Green just knew he wanted to be a police officer and was fascinated with the world of law enforcement. One impactful moment in time came when a neighbor of Green's childhood home, a known drug dealer, was targeted by Eureka Police; they placed an undercover officer at his house to do surveillance. Green was in awe. "I remember how that made me feel. I felt like they were fixing a problem and something that really scared me as a kid," explained Green. "I don't think I realized that until later in my life, but that's something that had an impact on me. They felt a little bit like heroes." Fast forward to Monday, Dec. 8, 2025: Adam Green is sworn in as Folsom's newest police chief: a career achievement the young boy in Eureka didn't have on his radar, but as he spoke to the crowd attending the ceremony, Green credited many pivotal moments and people for leading him to this lofty achievement. The early days Green's father worked at Safeway and later became a Realtor; his mother was an elementary school teacher. Green's parents fancied him becoming an artist, but his focus on a career in law enforcement never wavered. In the end, his parents fully supported this decision. While his mother passed away years ago, Green publicly thanked his father during his swearing-in ceremony for his unwavering support. Sacramento State was the college Green targeted because it had a rowing program (which was a passion of his) and a Criminal Justice program. "When I left, I wanted to go to something bigger," said Green. "I thought moving to Sacramento was the big city and honestly, now Sacramento doesn't seem as big as it did when I was a kid." Green has fond memories spending almost every morning rowing on Lake Natoma and running on the nearby bike trails, establishing an early appreciation for the outdoor offerings of the Folsom area. After attending the police academy, Green was hired by the Sacramento Police Department and he steadily moved up the ranks during his 24-plus years there. "I wasn't aspiring to climb the ranks," admitted Green when discussing his career trajectory. "I was very fortunate in that throughout my career, I had a lot of really good mentors and I think some of my movement, probably to a great extent, most of my movement in the police department, had to do with my mentors encouraging me to do different things or take promotional tests and I think without that, I may have never done it. But I just had so many positive people around me who really invested their time in me and encouraged me." While humble in his reflections on why those mentors would throw such strong support behind him, Green admitted his work ethic may be part of it; he has always worked hard from the age of 13, when he started as a dishwasher and later had a newspaper route and many other jobs along the way. Yet Green also attributes good timing to his success, and an important lesson he learned long ago: Say "yes" when opportunities present themselves, even if it's not what you originally envisioned for yourself. "I learned real quick that by saying yes to different opportunities, that it really took me down different paths and gave me the opportunity to work for different people," explained Green. When speaking of his time at the Sacramento Police Department, Green has nothing but fondness to express; the people, the city, the department were all great experiences that helped him become who he is today. Yet the idea of serving in Folsom greatly appealed to him. The move to Folsom During Green's swearing-in ceremony, Folsom City Manager Bryan Whitemyer expressed deep confidence in the choice to hire Green over all other candidates. Despite a rigorous vetting process, Green emerged with flying colors and a clear choice for a city that's undergoing growth while struggling with financial restraints. Green is clearly excited to lead Folsom's Police Department and become fully ingrained in the community. "One of the fun things about coming to Folsom and starting anew is I get to learn all over again. Everything is new to me, and I think that's part of the cool thing about being here," said Green. "The scale of the city and this police department, it really gives me the opportunity to connect at a level that's much harder in a department in a city the size of Sacramento. And that's one of the things I really enjoy is being able to connect with people, being able to connect with the community, understanding what the people in the city that you work in want and what their priorities are and how you can help them accomplish that. I think that's really cool." Green said his initial plan as chief is to be out and about, hearing from businesses and community groups about what's important to them, what they expect and want from the police department. From that input, Green can pull from his experiences and see how he can apply that knowledge in the most effective way possible. On homelessness: "Homelessness alone or when it's combined with mental health or substance abuse or those two things co-occurring, it's a really challenging problem to attack. The other thing is, we are dealing with people: Whether they're in a state of crisis or drug addicted, we have to care for them as well. And sometimes, those people may need help or want help, or are in a state where they can't make a decision to get help. And so that's a really challenging thing to navigate," said Green. "I think the most important thing to recognize is it's not a problem that law enforcement can solve by themselves and also in and of itself, homelessness really isn't a law enforcement problem, but I think we have a role in it, as does the fire department and our community organizations, county health; we all play a part in trying to figure out a solution." On fighting crime with limited resources and the many questions he seeks to find answers to: "The problems Folsom is facing are not unique from where I came from, the scale is just different and they're also not unique from jurisdictions across the state and country. Everyone is struggling with money," said Green. "From a police department standpoint and as I get settled here, my job is to figure out how we cover our basics and the priorities with the staff and resources we have. How do we look for alternative funding sources that help us do the things we want to do? And how do we plan for future growth? As we correct the budget and hopefully move forward, what things should we be looking at now? What do we need to anticipate coming and how do we build the future of the police department around that? And one key component to that is technology. How do we use technology to keep our community safer in general." A whirlwind and warm welcome Since Green took over as chief, it's admittedly been a whirlwind of activity, meeting people and events. Taking over right before Christmas heightens the whirlwind with events like the Christmas Tree lighting in Historic Folsom, the Santa Sleigh visits and other events which have kept Green busy … in a good way. "You get a sense of a couple things. One, how proud people are to live and be a part of the city of Folsom. How proud the police officers are to serve this city and just how excited and welcoming they have been of me, it creates a sense of family very quickly," said Green. "So if there's one thing I want to convey to the community, is how excited I am to be here and be a part of this, and how proud I am to be a part of this police department. It's really cool. I feel very fortunate. I got lucky." While his schedule has been tight lately, Green said during their free time, his family loves outdoor activities such as hiking, walking their border collie or being at the beach. Yet like any parent, his absolute favorite thing to do is watch his daughter compete in the sport that she loves. "We spend a lot of time driving around California, playing and watching water polo. And watching her play water polo is absolutely one of my favorite things to do," said Green. "If I could be a full-time water polo parent, just drive her around and watch her practice, 100 percent I would do that every day. It never gets old." Being a full-time water polo parent will have to remain on the bucket list; for now, Green has a police department to run - a job that surpasses even his childhood dreams as he pedaled his bike to find the latest police siren in the distance.