Rudy Tai may have spent the past 35 years at the San Diego Police Department, but one look around his seventh-floor office at police headquarters shows he never left Hawaii behind. Tai’s office on Broadway, with its bird’s-eye view of the east side of downtown, is ringed with artwork, awards and memorabilia reflecting his deep ties to his home state — including wooden letters that spell out ALOHA, a miniature surfboard, leis and a picture depicting a double-hulled boa known as a Hōkūle’a. Tai, 60, will do a ceremonial “walkout” of headquarters on Tuesday, and his last day is Thursday. In March, he’s slated to begin a new job as police chief on the island of Kauai. Returning to Hawaii after retiring was always in the back of his mind — and the chief’s job opening was perfect timing. He said he looks forward to bringing his experience, knowledge, contacts and ideas to work with police employees to make the Kauai department better. “That’ll be a dream job for me,” he said. Tai was born on Oahu and came to San Diego to attend San Diego State University. He has relatives in Oceanside and got to know San Diego on family vacations growing up. Tai thought he might go on to law school after college, but when he interned with the county Public Defender’s Office, some colleagues suggested police work might be a better fit. After graduating in 1989, he joined the police department in 1990. Tai began as a patrol officer in the Northern Division and became a sergeant in 1996, a detective sergeant in 1999 and a lieutenant in 2007. He cycled through an array of locations and assignments — patrol, gangs, narcotics, sex crimes, recruitment — and continued moving up. He was named deputy chief, the No. 2 post in the department, in late 2024 after Paul Connelly was tapped as the chief of police in Coronado. Police Chief Scott Wahl praised Tai for his work in narcotics enforcement, as well as his deep ties to the community during his decades-long career. “Rudy has been second to none when it comes to understanding the importance and the value of community relationships,” the chief said. “He’s always behind the scenes, but he’s been involved in so many things. “When you’re in the community with him, everybody knows him… He treats everybody with respect and kindness. He’s been a fantastic deputy chief for me.” Wahl said Tai never lost his connection to the community, even after he joined the chief’s office, which sometimes happens when upper-level police officials leave area stations. Tai’s departure comes as the police department is losing three top-level officials to retirements. Also leaving are Assistant Chief Tina Williams, who oversees planning and intelligence, and Cmdr. Matt Novak, who oversees investigations. Assistant Chief Shawn Takeuchi will be moved up to the deputy chief post. Williams was the second female to complete the SWAT Academy and spent nearly 15 years on the team, including serving as the department’s first female SWAT commander. She’s been with the department for 32 years. Novak, who is retiring after 31 years, spent more than a decade in investigations and also served on the SWAT team and as a field training officer. As he looks back on his San Diego career, Tai places great importance on his early and continued work in community policing, an approach in which officers develop relationships and “trusting partnerships” with community members to identify neighborhood priorities. He recalled an early success in Clairemont after he and his partner noticed five or six homeowners on the same street had posted for-sale signs. After talking to the residents, the officers learned a problem neighbor — a guy who was reportedly selling drugs — had made things so unpleasant that the homeowners decided to leave. Tai and his partner let the out-of-town landlord of the alleged drug dealer know of the issues, which led to the tenant being evicted. In the end, the residents ended up staying. After he moved to the Southern Division in the 1990s, Tai said he and other officers came up with an innovative approach to address the large numbers of underage youth crossing the border to drink in Mexico. Officers set up a makeshift satellite police station at the border, brought in lights and checked IDs, sometimes phoning parents to pick up their intoxicated teens. That effort, along with community partners, helped change the environment, Tai said. In his long career, Tai has served as a liaison to the Asian and Pacific Islander communities and as a mentor to younger officers. He’s headed the police department’s Pan Pacific Law Enforcement Association, coaching and competing in dragon boat races held as part of the annual Pacific Islander Festival. While San Diego is home to 1.3 million residents and employs a force of nearly 1,840 sworn officers, the Garden Isle has about 80,000 residents and a police department less than a tenth the size of San Diego’s. Wahl said he sees Tai’s next move, heading the Kauai department, as an especially good fit. “He’s going home,” Wahl said. “I know he’s going to not only serve the island of Kauai, but he’s going to help bring them together, the community and the police officers together, and will make those relationships stronger than they’ve ever been.” The previous police chief in Kauai, Todd Raybuck, retired in June 2024 after several publicized incidents. He had been suspended for five days after an investigation found he had created a hostile work environment and violated discrimination policies by mocking Asian Americans. He later faced a lawsuit alleging he discriminated against a captain for being Japanese American, which the county settled for $350,000. Raybuck also was suspended for three days after leaving a loaded gun in a police department restroom. Tai’s selection to run the department was initially met with concern by the police union, which questioned whether he and other finalists had been properly vetted by the police commission. In particular, union leaders pointed to Tai’s handling of a complaint in the 1990s about an early episode of misconduct by former Officer Anthony Arevalos, who was later convicted of soliciting sexual favors from women. Tai gave Arevalos a verbal warning but did not document the incident. He and several other police leaders later were dismissed from a civil lawsuit that claimed they had known about and covered up repeated misconduct by Arevalos. A U.S. Department of Justice review of the police department later found serious gaps in supervision and discipline that allowed officer sexual misconduct and other offenses to go undetected for months and even years. Auditors offered 40 largely policy-based recommendations to correct systemic flaws in the 2015 report. The head of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers said that the union’s concerns were focused on the commission’s selection process — and that it is prepared to work with Tai on issues such as staffing and morale. “Hiring a police chief is a major decision with significant ramifications for the community,” union president Don Faumuina said in a statement. “Trust and transparency are critical… We are moving forward, and we are prepared to work with Chief Tai to ensure the KPD can live up to its fullest potential in keeping our community safe and inspiring top-quality police officers.” ...read more read less