Kolender Sees Move as Right Opportunity

Soon to be out as the city’s chief of police, Bill Kolender reflected Saturday on how he wants to be remembered by the 2,500 employees of the San Diego Police Department he leaves behind.

“I hope they had somebody there who cared,” he said. “Who never forgot how to love, and who was able to lead the department in such a way that the men and women feel very good about what they do and how they do it.”

In an afternoon press conference the day after his retirement was announced, Kolender looked relaxed and fit as he sat poolside in his backyard. The high-pressure tensions of the chief’s job already seemed to be lifting. He wore a blue-striped shirt, white slacks and deck shoes. His face was tanned. His hair was perfect.

He is preparing for a three-week vacation. And he looks forward to turning in his service revolver for a career in the newspaper business.

Kolender, 53, is retiring as the longest-running chief of any major police department in the nation.

“Obviously, I’m making this move with mixed emotions,” he said. “I have enjoyed the Police Department very much. But like I said many times, if the right opportunity came along, I was certainly going to look at it. And this is not only the right opportunity, but I feel very pleased to be embarking upon a new career.”

A member of the San Diego Police Department for 33 years and chief the past 13, Kolender is retiring July 8.

“I’m going to miss the people,” he said. “I like cops. I always have. I’m going to miss them.”

Effective Aug. 1, he will become assistant general manager of community relations for the Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

“I’ll be doing some management work, some community relations, some educational programs,” he said. “And I look forward to working with media people. A lot of them are like cops. They have a tremendous sense of duty and justice.”

No Problems Seen With Public Perception

Asked whether there might be a public perceptional problem with the city police chief going to work at the city’s two largest-circulation papers, Kolender said:

“I don’t know what that perceptional problem would be. I won’t be the police chief any more. I’ve been a manager and an administrator for a long time, and that’s what I’m going to do there.”

Asked whether he would have any management role in a current labor dispute at the papers, Kolender said simply: “I don’t know.”

But he was emphatic in refuting speculation that his new job will be just a way station for a couple of years in which he can get off the hot seat as police chief and prepare for a political campaign for either county sheriff or mayor.

In the past, he flirted with a run for mayor but decided against becoming a candidate. And he often has been mentioned as the only person with the name recognition and law enforcement background to stage a successful campaign against long-incumbent San Diego County Sheriff John Duffy.

“I’m not running for anything,” Kolender said. “I have no political ambitions of any kind. I hope to work for the Copleys for many many years.”

So was he ruling out any political future? “Never. I’ve looked at that once, about six years ago, and that’s not for me.”

Most Difficult Tasks

As police chief, he said, the most difficult tasks he ever faced were personally delivering to families of police officers the news that their loved ones had died in the line of duty. Eleven officers were killed during his term.

“Without a doubt the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do is knock on the door of a mother or father or wife or husband and tell them their police officer-family member has just been killed,” he said. “Nothing was more painful than that.”

Second to that, he said, was the Sagon Penn incident, in which a young black man killed a white police officer and seriously wounded another. Penn was acquitted, and the shooting eventually drew sharp criticism from the state attorney general over how police handled the case.

Toughest Situation

“The Sagon Penn situation was without a doubt the toughest kind of situation that this department or any department has ever had,” he said, “‘because of the death of the officer, the trials, the whole thing.”

He also listed what he hopes will be measured as the successes of his leadership at police headquarters.

“I think moving into the new station,” he said. “For the first time, getting the Police Department to be paid competitive wages. Some of the training programs.

“I’m very proud of the work that was done in the area of women in police and minority relations within the department. The growth of the amount of black, Mexican and women officers has just been phenomenal, and they’ve taken their place in leadership roles in every single aspect of that department.

“There’s been a lot of good times. I had the opportunity to work with some great people, some men and women who are committed and dedicated.”

Tough Problems Ahead

Kolender said he will not be involved in the process to choose a successor. But with the city continuing to grow, the number of drugs and handguns proliferating, and the criminal justice system overloaded, he said the new chief will face difficult problems.

“Whoever runs the department must have a mission,” he said. “He must have a vision as to where the department and the city is going. He must let the people on the department know what’s expected of them. He must hold them accountable and support them.”

“And I tell you,” he added, “whoever the next chief is, he or she will not be bored.”