Oceanside Police Chief Kedrick Sadler is retiring from the department this weekend, and city officials have tapped a candidate to replace him as the city’s top cop — the assistant chief.
Sadler’s last day is Sunday, after more than a year and a half as chief, City Manager Jonathan Borrego said in a news release. Oceanside officials selected Assistant Police Chief Taurino Valdovinos to replace Sadler to lead the department, which has more than 200 officers in a city of nearly 175,000 residents. He steps into the job Monday, and will be officially sworn in later in the week.
Borrego said the decision to promote Valdovinos outside of the typical recruitment process was based on the assistant chief’s experience within the department, the relationships he’s built with the community and that he was a finalist in the selection process that involved his predecessor in 2023.
“With decades of dedicated service to our community, Chief Valdovinos brings proven leadership and a deep understanding of our city’s public safety needs,” Borrego said.
Since joining the department in 2003, Valdovinos has served in many roles, including on patrol, in neighborhood policing and on the gang suppression unit. He was also a use-of-force instructor and member of the SWAT team.
As a lieutenant, Valdovinos was the department’s public information officer, created the Oceanside Youth Partnership program and was promoted to captain in January of last year overseeing the support operations division. In December he was named assistant chief.
Salder issued a statement saying he has “all the faith in the world that Assistant Chief Valdovinos will make an outstanding Police Chief and lead our department into the future.”
Sadler spent 24 years with the department, moving up from to K-9 handler, to detective, to captain overseeing investigations, patrol, crisis intervention and SWAT in 2021. He was appointed to lead the department in April 2023, becoming the city’s first Black police chief.
“We thank Chief Sadler for his long and dedicated service to the Oceanside community,” Borrego said. “He’s led the police department with the utmost integrity, transparency and commitment.”
Valdovinos’s swearing in ceremony will be at 3 p.m. Wednesday in the city council chambers at 300 N. Coast Highway in Oceanside.
