By Jeremy Ogul

Six months after La Mesa Police Chief Ed Aceves announced his retirement, city leaders have announced his replacement: Walt Vasquez, who will leave his position as assistant chief of police with the San Diego Police Department.

Vasquez, who was born and raised in San Diego but attended Helix High School, will be sworn in at a public ceremony at the police station on Monday, April 6 at 4 p.m.

Aceves, who served as chief for three years, technically has been retired since Dec. 30 but was appointed by the City Council to serve as a temporary interim chief until a replacement was found.

Vasquez has worked more than 28 years — his entire law enforcement career — at SDPD, beginning as a patrol officer in the Southeastern Division. He then transferred to the police academy to teach recruits, focusing on defensive techniques and use-of-force training. Over the years he was promoted to sergeant, lieutenant and captain, working in a diverse array of divisions and units with SDPD. For the past two years, Vasquez has been assistant chief of police, first overseeing patrol operations and more recently overseeing neighborhood policing.

Aceves said Vasquez is highly qualified.

“I know him very well and I couldn’t be any happier that he was selected,” Aceves said.

In his first several months at the helm of La Mesa Police Department, Vasquez will spend time observing and learning the way things are done in a department that is vastly smaller than SDPD. He will also focus on establishing relationships with police department staff, city staff, elected officials, community leaders and other citizens.

Vasquez emphasized that law enforcement agencies can only effectively serve their communities when they have established strong partnerships and lines of communication with the citizens they serve.

“The citizens truly want and deserve and need a connection with their police department. We’re there to serve,” he said. “You always have to connect with the community and be accessible and communicate … That takes effort, and that takes focus.”

Vasquez said this is the only chief of police job he has ever applied for, and La Mesa was the only department he considered. Much of that was driven by his familiarity with the community. Before graduating from Helix, Vasquez grew up playing pony league baseball here. An El Cajon resident, his family doctor is in La Mesa, and as his children grew up he watched them perform at events such as Christmas in the Village.

The police department’s standing in the broader law enforcement community was also a factor, he said.

“The La Mesa Police Department has a very good — outstanding — reputation,” he said. “They are a well-thought-of police department.”

Though he may be new to La Mesa’s police agency, Vasquez is well known among law enforcement leaders around the county. That’s especially relevant in an era in which civic leaders have come to understand how important it is to take a regional approach to public safety.

In a statement emailed to the media, La Mesa City Manager Dave Witt said Vasquez was exceptionally qualified for the position.

“Mr. Vasquez participated in a very thorough application process that attracted a wide range of candidates inside and out of the region,” Witt wrote. “I have every confidence that Mr. Vasquez is the most qualified candidate for La Mesa’s new chief and will provide the energy and professional commitment needed to be successful in his new role at La Mesa.”

As he prepares to hand over the keys to the chief’s office, Aceves said Vasquez will have some serious internal and external challenges to work on.

Within the department, the biggest need is to continue developing what is a relatively young police force, especially considering that many of the most senior members will be eligible to retire within the next five years, Aceves said.

That task will be complicated by how difficult it is to recruit qualified candidates into the police academy, he said. Many potential candidates are disqualified by prior drug use, theft-related issues and problems with moral character, such as dishonesty. As a result, all police agencies in the region are competing for the same small pool of qualified recruits.

But Vasquez has experience in such matters.

A 2009 feature in the San Diego Union-Tribune put a spotlight on Vasquez’s reputation within SDPD as a leader who was not above working the streets alongside his younger patrol officers. It was something Vasquez learned from the first captain he ever had — Jerry Sanders, who would later become mayor of the city of San Diego.

“Jerry had a huge impact on me,” Vasquez said. “That’s something that I try to display … to really connect and support the line-level personnel.”

Outside the walls of the police department, Aceves said, Vasquez will have to contend with a skyrocketing number of cases involving mental illness. In the past four years, the number of involuntary psychiatric holds has roughly doubled, and that’s a significant drain on police resources, he said.

“This is not a La Mesa issue; this is probably a national issue — definitely a California issue,” Aceves said.

Vasquez said social issues ranging from mental illness to homelessness to drug abuse are best addressed through a collaborative approach among multiple agencies — police, mental health professionals and social workers.

Then there are California’s rapidly changing drug and criminal sentencing laws. Under Assembly Bill 109 and Proposition 47, for example, many of those who would have been in jail or prison a couple years ago are now free.

“I think our communities have gotten used to these low crime rates,” Aceves said. “As we keep tweaking these laws, there’s no way to keep the crime rates this low.”

Finally, police everywhere are dealing with the impact of high-profile issues of police-community relations in places such as Ferguson, Missouri; Cleveland, Ohio; and New York City.

“We’re very fortunate in La Mesa that we have a very open, transparent relationship with our community, but as we see, things locally or regionally or even nationally can have a very negative impact on what we do on a day-to-day basis, and we have to deal with those consequences that others kind of put out there for us,” Aceves said.

As Vasquez settles into the job and begins to put his stamp on La Mesa’s approach to public safety, Aceves said he will be enjoying his retirement, including much more frequent Crossfit workouts and rounds of golf. He has no immediate plans for future employment, but he is keeping his options open. He’ll also be keeping an eye on Vasquez.

“I’m still a La Mesa resident, so he better do an incredible job,” Aceves said, laughing.

—Reach Jeremy Ogul at [email protected].