The San Jose and
Long Beach Connection
Both agencies produce large number of police chiefs
The Silicon Valley is known for its high-tech
companies, the Champagne region of France is
known for its premier bubbly, and the cities of Long
Beach and San Jose are known for producing…
police chiefs? Yes — and many are of recent vintage.
Both cite their former departments’ high standards
for education and advancement, the ability of
officers to engage in a variety of police work, and
the exposure of officers to diverse communities,
among other reasons.
There currently are 10 active chiefs who can thank
the San Jose PD for helping them earn their stars,
while six active police chiefs hail from the Long
Beach PD (three from that agency recently retired:
Tim Jackman, Santa Monica, Dec. 2011; Anthony
Batts, Oakland, Oct. 2011; and Keith Kilmer, San
Bernardino, Mar. 2011).
“The Long Beach (PD) embodied the philosophy,
‘The police are the people, and the people are
the police,’” said Renaud, 42, who spent 20 years
with agency — the last five years as a commander
— before taking the top spot at the Folsom PD.
Is there something special in the coffee at these law
enforcement agencies?
Cynthia Renaud, a Long Beach PD veteran who
became police chief of Folsom in May 2011, and
Eric Sills, who spent nearly 28 years with the San
Jose PD before becoming top cop of Soledad in
February 2010, say there are many reasons their
respective agencies have churned out several chiefs.
“I was able to develop a skill set and the expertise
to handle all crimes, and also to understand how to
become part of the community I served, and to work
closely with the community,” Renaud said.
In addition to Renaud, current police chiefs with
backgrounds at the Long Beach PD are:
* Frank McCoy, Oceanside
* Gary Morrison, Carlsbad
* Jay Johnson, Newport Beach
* Jorge Cisneros, Huntington Park
* Jeffrey Craig, Victoria, Texas
Police chiefs who previously worked for the San Jose PD pose during a recent get-together. Bottom row (left to right): Junior Gomez, Redwood City;
Ruben Chavez, Livingston; Tuck Younis, Los Altos (in suit); Scott Seaman, Los Gatos; Eric Sills, Soledad and Greenfield; Top row: Walt Tibbett, Fairfield
(previously Alameda); Diane Urban, Hayward; Manny Martinez, Daly City
Renaud said the breadth of experience she got in
Long Beach helped make the transition to chief
of police go smoothly. Among her assignments in
Long Beach were patrol, field training officer, vice
detective, sergeant in charge of the vice detail, and
internal affairs.
“The department has very positive professional peer
pressure to be the very best you can be,” Renaud
said. “While I am so proud of the Folsom Police
Department, I am equally proud of the Long Beach
Police Department family that raised me.”
Sills recently assumed police chief duties of
neighboring Greenfield in addition to running the
Soledad PD, which has 17 sworn officers (Greenfield
has 14).
In the much-larger San Jose PD, whose 1,000 or so
sworn officers patrol a city of nearly 1 million, Sills
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