San Diego is on the hunt for its 36th police chief.
In June, the city’s top cop, Chief David Nisleit, will retire. City officials announced this month that they were kick-starting a monthslong process to find his successor. The search will span the nation.
It’s a monumental decision for the eighth largest city in the country.
While San Diego consistently sees some of the lowest big-city crime rates, its police department faces persistent challenges — many of which are shared by law enforcement agencies nationwide.
The city’s police ranks are thinning, fueled in part by struggles to recruit and retain officers. Relationships between the department and some communities — particularly those of color — are strained. How to best respond to those struggling with homelessness and mental illness remain divisive issues.
The new San Diego Police Department chief will bear the responsibility of shaping law enforcement policy, fostering community engagement, ensuring officer accountability and keeping the public safe.
Fulfilling those duties won’t come without challenge. It’s easy to point out what the problems are. It’s much harder to fix them.
Nisleit took over in 2018 and, in interviews, said tackling the department’s persistent staffing shortage and repairing rifts between officers and some communities were top priorities. Both challenges remain.
When city officials announced the search, they stressed community members would have several opportunities to weigh in on the process. What traits should San Diego’s next police chief have? What priorities should the top cop set?
Police leaders identified staffing struggles as a top priority.
Fueled by a storm of factors — from the COVID-19 pandemic to low morale in the face of greater public scrutiny to better pay at other agencies — the department has struggled for years to bolster its ranks. Currently, San Diego is short about 200 sworn officers. Although attrition has slowed since fiscal 2022, when more than 240 officers left the department, police leaders suspect rough years are ahead.
That’s partly because a much higher number of officers who signed up for the city’s deferred retirement option plan, known as DROP, will be leaving soon. DROP allows city employees to collect pension in a retirement account if they agree to retire within five years of the date they enroll. In fiscal 2025 and 2026, nearly 130 officers in the program are projected to retire. That’s double the number of officers that are expected to leave due to DROP in the two fiscal years after that.
Several of San Diego’s top police leaders are enrolled in the program — including Nisleit himself. The chief enrolled into the program in June of 2019. The department’s No. 2, Executive Assistant Chief Chris McGrath, and all but two of the department’s seven assistant chiefs are also enrolled in the program.
San Diego police Chief David Nisleit is flanked by his command staff in 2019.
(Alex Riggins/The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Neither Assistant Chief Scott Wahl nor Assistant Chief Terence Charlot is in DROP, positioning both as possible internal candidates.
The department’s DROP figures don’t account for officers who will likely leave for other reasons.
“It’s an immediate crisis,” said Jared Wilson, president of the San Diego Police Officers Association. “I don’t like to throw around words like that, but I’d call that a crisis that needs to be solved.”
Academy classes are shrinking, as well. Typically, the department strives to budget upwards of 50 recruits per class, department officials said.
“We haven’t been hitting that target recently,” San Diego police Capt. Jeffrey Jordon said. “Like a lot of agencies across the nation, the department has struggled to hit its recruiting goals.”
Potential new recruits listen to speakers during the third annual San Diego Police Department hiring expo for women at Police Plaza on October 28, 2023.
(Sandy Huffaker/For The San Diego Union Tribune)
Community leaders pointed to a variety concerns they hoped the next police chief would tackle, but a renewed focus on community-oriented policing rose to the top.
“We know this position requires a leader who has a clear understanding of each community in San Diego and their specific needs, a focus on data-driven results, and a commitment to community policing,” said Alonso Vivas, senior vice president of the Downtown San Diego Partnership.
The downtown organization also hoped the department’s next leader would combat reported thefts, increase the number of officers on the street with e-bike or walking patrols, and focus on recruiting diverse candidates to fill much-needed officer and dispatcher vacancies.
Nicole Murray Ramirez, a longtime gay rights activist, also noted the importance of paying heed to the city’s diversity.
“San Diego is the home of a very large and diverse population of color with almost 100 different languages being spoken,” he said. “We also have a very visible and engaged LGBTQ community.”
Some felt strongly that the city should look outside the department for its next leader.
“If you’ve got a candidate who has demonstrated they can change cultures within police departments and can build trust among communities — all communities — then someone coming from the outside can be a benefit,” said Bishop Cornelius Bowser, the founder of Shaphat Outreach, an organization that aims to curb gun violence. “That person can come in with fresh eyes.”
The last chief to come from outside San Diego was Bill Lansdowne, a former San Jose police chief who steered San Diego’s department between 2003 and 2014.
Bowser, like others, also spoke on the importance of community policing, but specifically strategies that empower partnerships between community groups that are already making change in their neighborhoods. He also said department leaders need to do more to build trust in Black and Brown communities.
During Nisleit’s tenure, several studies have found that people of color — especially Black people — are stopped, searched and subjected to force at higher rates than their White counterparts, even after accounting for factors like poverty and crime rates.
Bowser and others have criticized police leaders for shying away from policy initiatives that could more directly address racial disparities. Along with initiatives meant to curb gun violence, it’s work he hopes the next chief will prioritize.
Mayor Todd Gloria had his own wishlist for the next chief of police. In a two-minute video on the city’s police chief recruitment page, the mayor underscored San Diego’s diverse, bi-national community and its LGBTQ-friendly stance.
He said the city is looking for a chief who is innovative, adaptable and forward thinking, and who will help attract and retain police officers by forging a department that’s supportive and inclusive.
“We are looking to recruit a police chief who will be a strong partner — someone who’s up to the task of fairly enforcing the law, ensuring crimes are prosecuted and keeping all residents safe,” Gloria said in the video.
“We’re looking for a police chief who can understand the role of law enforcement extends beyond conventional boundaries,” he added, “encompassing community engagement and community-oriented policing.”
The city began its search Nov. 14, and will accept applications until Jan. 19.
When announcing the search, city officials stressed there will be opportunities for the public to weigh in.
In January, the city will hold a series of community meetings to gather input from the public. A survey to collect people’s opinions on the matter is also being developed.
After feedback is collected, a series of interviews will be held. One interview panel will be made up of community representatives from each council district. Another, an executive panel selected by the mayor, will be made up of law enforcement and regional leaders.
City officials said last week that no one has been chosen for those interview committees, and that other decisions surrounding the panels — like whether the identities of committee members will be made public — are still being worked out.
During the last national search, the city didn’t release who participated in the interview process, a decision that was contested by several council members who argued the process should be as transparent as possible.
City officials said then that the names were kept quiet to prevent participants from being lobbied by various interest groups.
Decisions surrounding the interview panel process will be finalized over the next couple of weeks.
