In an unusual coincidence, most of San Diego County’s major law enforcement agencies changed leadership last year. Of the 11 cities or regional policing departments, seven saw their chief leave the post in 2024. Most of the change follows retirements that happened back to back. But it’s not very common for a region to suddenly see so much simultaneous shifting at the top of law enforcement agencies. The San Diego Police Department has a new leader in Chief Scott Wahl following the retirement of David Nisleit. There are new chiefs in Carlsbad, Coronado and El Cajon. Ditto National City and Oceanside. And Escondido is in the market for a new one with the retirement Ed Varso. San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl in his office at police headquarters on Dec. 19. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune) “It is just kind of strange that it all hit at the same time,” said Chula Vista police Chief Roxana Kennedy. She is a bit of an outlier — she’s the longest-tenured chief in the region, with eight years in the post. Sheriff Kelly Martinez said the turnover at the top appears to be “happening throughout the industry right now. … I don’t think it’s unique to San Diego.” She cited the demands of the field and the job: “I just think the challenges of law enforcement in general have sped up timelines for people in all leadership positions in law enforcement.” From staffing shortages to COVID to fallout from the death of George Floyd, departments are under increasing scrutiny. And law enforcement finds itself on the frontlines addressing crises in homelessness, mental illness and fentanyl. On top of that, there are cameras everywhere, even on their own uniforms. Chuck Wexler, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based think tank Police Executive Research Forum, said he suspects about 75 percent of chiefs in the nation’s larger departments have turned over in the last five years. And in the last decade — dating back to unrest after an officer shot and killed a young Black man in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Mo. — Wexler said there has been a significant increase in oversight of how police do their jobs. “It’s never been more complicated to be a police officer, today more than ever,” Wexler said. “And at the top of all this is police chiefs. Their job is complicated. There is a higher level of accountability than ever.” ‘The one everyone looks to’ Chula Vista’s police chief is also the president of the local chiefs’ and sheriff’s association, an exclusive group made up of the leadership of local departments as well as people in charge of San Diego branches of federal agencies such as the Border Patrol or the Drug Enforcement Administration. Kennedy said the association offers real support to new chiefs. “When you come to mentoring, you couldn’t get better mentors than actual chiefs that have already experienced it. Carlsbad Police Chief Christie Calderwood (City of Carlsbad) “Each of these new chiefs, they have tremendous experience behind them, and they’ve been a part of these organizations for a long time,” Kennedy said. “The only challenge is just getting used to your role, because now you’re the leader. You are the one that everyone looks to you — and sometimes that can be a heavy burden on your shoulders, without a doubt.” It’s a lot at first, Oceanside’s new chief found out. “I can tell you that I’m not used to being pulled in 30 different directions every day,” Chief Taurino Valdovinos said last month, a few weeks after he was sworn in. “That’s kind of new to me. I feel like I don’t have enough hours in the day, enough days in the week to get my work done and still be everywhere that I need to be.” It’s worth noting that for the first few weeks, Valdovinos was doing both his new job and the old one of assistant chief, still running day-to-day operations. He had a No. 2 in mind but didn’t want to upset the carefully calibrated structure by making a promotion until new recruits could come on board in late December, thus allowing him to move people up accordingly. He is the city’s third chief since the retirement of Frank McCoy in 2020, who was the longest-serving chief there, with 15 years in the chair. Valdovinos said one of his main objectives is to “maintain balance and consistency within our department.” And as chief, he will be able to ensure the department continues to follow a new strategic plan, the shaping of which he greatly influenced as assistant chief. “I really don’t have to come in here and (bring) change,” he said. Coronado Police Chief Paul Connelly. (City of Coronado) Most of the new chiefs in the county came up through the ranks of their respective departments and bring with them years of institutional knowledge. Coronado’s new leader, Chief Paul Connelly, is the only new chief in the region coming in from outside — and it wasn’t all that far outside. He was with the San Diego Police Department for 27 years, rising to deputy chief. National City police Chief Alejandro Hernandez, sworn in last January, has been with his department for several years and actually took part in its police cadet program at age 16. Valdovinos and El Cajon police Chief Jeremiah Larson both joined their departments in 2003. In Carlsbad, police Chief Christie Calderwood had 18 years with the department before stepping into her new role in April. She, too, had been assistant chief beforehand. “I think the timing of a lot of chiefs retiring is just they’re coming to the end of a very long career,” she said last month. “It’s exciting for all the new leadership in the county, everyone that’s taking on the top-cop position and their respective agencies.” Calderwood, who is a past president of the California Peace Officers’ Association, said the new leaders all have “the great opportunity to kind of stand on the shoulders of people that came before them and set the foundation for great things in our county.” She said the chiefs’ group helps everyone strategize and “be on the same page.” Law enforcement leaders in the region routinely praise what they say is an unusually great partnership among the local, state and federal agencies. National City Chief of Police Alejandro “Alex” Hernandez. (National City) “Each community has different priorities, but it’s very important for the chiefs’ group to ensure we’re kind of driving forward in a positive direction of being there for the community that we serve,” Calderwood said. “There’s nothing that we’re like, ‘OK, we need to turn the boat around from what previous leadership has done.’ If anything, it’s building upon it.” The chief’s association meets monthly. They talk about trends, what they are seeing in their cities and the approaches they each take. Take their work with a group of pastors from the region who, in the civil unrest following the 2020 death of George Floyd, formed an organization dubbed “Stand in the Gap.” When it formed, many of its members were Black, and many were former law enforcement officers. The group aims to get police leadership at the table with community leaders demanding policing reform.  After more than four years, Kennedy notes, the chiefs continue “to this day” to meet with the group. Kennedy, who introduced Stand in the Gap to the chief’s association, is the only current chief of the 11 local departments who was at the helm of the agencies when the unrest hit. Looking ahead The average tenure for a chief in the western part of the United States is 5.6 years, the Police Executive Research Forum found in a survey in published in 2021. Nationally, the tenure is 7.3 years. But that includes departments of all sizes across the country. Because the chiefs who participated in the survey were still serving, the survey looked at the tenure of the immediate past chiefs. El Cajon Police Chief Jeremiah Larson (City of El Cajon) Notably, 40 percent of the respondents said their predecessor had been in the job between two and five years. Think-tank director Wexler said the bigger the department, typically the shorter the average tenure. Oceanside’s Valdovinos said he is committed to at least five years in the job. When Oceanside’s prior chief retired this year, the city skipped the recruitment search and tapped Valdovinos, then an assistant chief. Valdovinos had been a finalist in the selection process when the city hired his predecessor in 2023. Kennedy said she had been training Assistant Chief Phil Collum to be her successor. But Collum died in April after a short battle with a rare cancer. She has been working with her staff to mold the next leadership. “I’m helping those below me to move up. And you know, I still love what I do, so it’s hard for me to walk away from law enforcement right now, when I feel like there are so many things on the horizon for Chula Vista that I want to see get accomplished before it’s time for me to do my walk out.” Unlike police chiefs, who are hired by cities, the county sheriff is an elected position. Martinez — who has been with the department 40 years — has been sheriff since January 2023. This particular term is a bit of an anomaly, as it will stretch to six years instead of the usual four. It’s a one-time statewide change to bring sheriff and district attorney elections into presidential election years. The positions will revert to four-year terms in 2028. And while it’s still three years away, Martinez said she is considering running for re-election. That’s not unusual. Her predecessor, Bill Gore was San Diego County sheriff for 13 years. And before Gore, Bill Kolender had the job for 14 years.