Over the last few weeks, the city hosted a series of forums to get the community’s thoughts on San Diego’s next police chief.
Residents had a lot to say.
Nearly 170 people attended the nine meetings, held at libraries, community rooms and tech centers in each of the city’s districts. Organizers of the two-hour forums asked community members to weigh in on what characteristics and qualities a police chief should have, how police should engage with communities, and what the next chief’s priorities should be.
Ideas and perspectives poured in from attendees of all ages and backgrounds, filling up poster-sized sheets of paper and white boards. Older adults were sandwiched between teenaged Boy Scouts and college students in their 20s.
The wish lists were long. Residents said the next chief should boost transparency, cooperate more with community groups and hire and retain diverse officers. They wanted someone who respects and understands the city’s diverse roots, doesn’t shy away from accountability and is ready to tackle issues such as racial profiling.
Being a partner to the community came up often.
“(The new chief) needs to not only value diversity, but also help bring people together; they need to change the way that the community has interactions with the police department,” said Onyeka Tefari, a Valencia Park resident. “Being someone who’s Black, the tensions that rise are sometimes there in the community because we don’t feel like we’re even heard.”
The city launched its search for a new chief in November. Chief David Nisleit, who’s been San Diego’s top cop since 2018, must retire in June because of his participation in the city’s deferred retirement option plan, known as DROP. The program allows some city employees to collect pension in a retirement account if they agree to retire within five years of the date they enroll.
Officials said this week that 51 applicants from 17 states — but mostly California — applied for the job. The city wouldn’t say how many people are still in the running or whether any who remain are currently with the department, but it appears the process is on track. A final candidate is expected to be named sometime in March, officials said.
Whoever takes the helm at the city’s Police Department inherits a host of challenges, some that have been longstanding.
Although the number of police officers leaving the agency has slowed in recent years, the city expects staffing struggles — which impact everything from response times to ballooning overtime costs — to endure for years. The department has long faced criticism over racial disparities in police stops — Black residents, especially, are stopped and suffer force at greater rates than their White counterparts, according to several analyses. And how officers should be responding to homelessness and mental health emergencies remain hot-button issues.
These issues and many others came up at the forums. City officials said the meetings weren’t held digitally in part because the discussion format wasn’t conducive to a webinar-style meeting. A digital survey was created to collect the same information from people who couldn’t attend the in-person events — about 800 people filled it out, officials said.
About 10 people attended the first meeting, held Jan. 8 at the Mission Trails Regional Park visitor’s center in District 7, which includes the neighborhoods of Allied Gardens, Mission Valley and Tierrasanta. Diversity, transparency and communication surfaced as top concerns.
One attendee, John Wilson, said his ideal police chief wouldn’t be perfect but knows how to own up to mistakes, provides the right kind of training to officers and communicates to residents about the steps that are being taken to address community concerns.
At a forum in Sorrento Valley, in District 6, one table of attendees said a chief should know how to work with communities in order to solve problems, which can sometimes mean supporting organizations that are already working in neighborhoods and letting them take the lead. Other attendees stressed the department’s next leader needs to ensure residents not only feel safe in their communities but also around officers.
“You have to have the trust and the confidence that they’re there to keep you safe,” said Jemma Samala, president of the University City Community Association. “Not feeling that you’re afraid of them and should stay away.”
That kind of trust is built on open communication, an attendee at a forum in District 4’s Encanto area said.
“Everything doesn’t have to be a secret, and everything doesn’t have to be perfect,” Leonard Thompson III said. “But we do need to have the ability to … communicate, work together or challenge each other to do better.”
City officials said the perspectives shared will help shape the questions asked of well-qualified candidates during a series of interviews and will be factors considered during the hiring process.
The City Council is expected to confirm the new chief in April.
