Following a national search that included candidates from major cities across the country, Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer announced on Feb. 1 the appointment of San Diego Police Department Assistant Chief David Nisleit as the City\u2019s next chief of police.\u00a0
\nNisleit, who was the overwhelming recommendation of the community and professional interview panels following a months-long selection process, has been with SDPD for 30 years, the last two as assistant chief overseeing patrol operations.
\nOnce confirmed by the City Council, Nisleit will replace Chief Shelley Zimmerman, who is retiring on March 1 after a 35-year career.
\nNisleit has led a distinguished career, with leadership roles in the Western, Northern and Mid-City Patrol divisions; SWAT; the Gang Unit; and the Centralized Investigations unit. He currently has responsibility for nine patrol commands, the Homeless Outreach Team and the Watch Commander\u2019s Office.
\n“As a native San Diegan and someone who has dedicated the last 30 years of his life to this city and department, it is both a privilege and an honor to become the next San Diego police chief,” Nisleit said.\u00a0“Keeping San Diego one of the safest large cities in America will be one of my top priorities.\u00a0This will be achieved through strong partnerships with our community and the great work of our San Diego Police Department personnel.”\u00a0
\nIn addition to overseeing hundreds of investigations throughout his career, Nisleit spearheaded the department\u2019s “violence reduction plan” aimed at decreasing violent crime and gun related offenses. He also led the department\u2019s involvement in the formation of the Community Action Support Team, working with the community to address gang violence.
\nHe has been responsible for the planning and operational safety of more than 1,000 special events, including Comic-Con, professional sporting events, San Diego LGBT Pride and the Women\u2019s March. He has a reputation of working closely with community members by hosting monthly problem-solving meetings and neighborhood crime briefings.
\n“The selection of Chief Nisleit is the culmination of a community-driven selection process and he was the clear choice of community leaders and professional staff, including law enforcement officials,” Faulconer said. “The interview panels saw what I already knew about Chief Nisleit: that he is a man of character who cares deeply about San Diego, our residents and our officers. Chief Nisleit will build on SDPD\u2019s strong reputation for community policing and make sure San Diego continues to be one of the safest big cities in the country. And he will lead our national recruiting efforts to hire more officers and have the department fully staffed for the first time in over a decade,” Faulconer said. Among his top priorities as police chief, will be to oversee\u00a0a national recruitment campaign to help attract and hire more police officers and fully staff the San Diego Police Department by 2020, as Faulconer laid out in his State of the City address. There are currently more than 200 vacant positions in the department.
\nIncreased staffing will allow the SDPD to address more quality-of-life issues, such as responding faster to non-emergency calls, engaging in proactive policing and establishing stronger ties with the communities they serve.
\nThe search for a new police chief began in September with more than 2,000 people participating in six community forums and an online survey.
\nInterviews were conducted in January by panels made up of community members and professional staff. Each member of the community and professional panels ranked each candidate in order of preference. Nisleit was overwhelmingly the highest ranked candidate.
\nFeedback from the community forums, online survey and panel rankings were all factors in Faulconer\u2019s ultimate decision to appoint Nisleit.
\nCommunity and professional officials who participated in the interview process were:
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Laura Baeza, Mid-City Community Advocacy Network;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jaymie Bradford, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Josie Calderon, Mexican American Business and Professional Association;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Peter Callstrom, San Diego Workforce Partnership;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ronald Cho, Park and Recreation Board, Asian Pacific Islander Association;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Taura Gentry, Community Review Board on Police Practices;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Tammy Gillies, Anti-Defamation League;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Stephen Groce, Human Relations Commission;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Andy Hanshaw, San Diego County Bicycle Coalition;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rodney Hood, Gang Prevention and Intervention Commission;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Susan Jester, Citizens Equal Opportunity Commission;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mitz Lee, Asian Pacific American Coalition;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Fernando Lopez, San Diego LGBT Pride;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Cindy Marten, San Diego Unified School District;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Nicole Murray Ramirez, LGBTQ Latino Coalition of San Diego County;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Barry Pollard, Community Advisory Board on Police\/Community Relations;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Robert Pope, United African American Ministerial Action Council;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jack Schaeffer, San Diego Police Officers Association;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Andrea St. Julian, Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Joe Terzi, San Diego Tourism Authority;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0La Mesa Police Chief Walt Vasquez;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Alonso Vivas, Downtown San Diego Partnership;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams;
\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Michael Zucchet, Municipal Employees Association.
\nNisleit earned his master\u2019s degree in business administration and management from University of Redlands. He was a member of the FBI\u2019s National Academy Class 258. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, president of the San Diego SWAT Officers Association and sits on the Regional Task Force on the Homeless.
\nHe lives in San Diego with his wife Darlene. He has three children Derek, Gabriella and Ryan, who is an SDPD officer.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following a national search that included candidates from major cities across the country, Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer announced on Feb. 1 the appointment of San Diego Police Department Assistant Chief David Nisleit as the City\u2019s next chief of police.\u00a0 Nisleit, who was the overwhelming recommendation of the community and professional interview panels following a months-long […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":274663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"Faulconer appoints longtime SDPD veteran as new police chief","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}