Veteran Deputy to Head City’s Force

The City Council has appointed a 20-year veteran of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department as commander of area law enforcement.

Dave Tennessen, 42, a Camarillo resident since 1979, was chosen Wednesday to head up the department’s Camarillo substation. The city contracts with the Sheriff’s Department for police services.

Tennessen succeeds Craig Husband, who has been promoted to county undersheriff.

Tennessen graduated from high school in South Dakota before moving to Camarillo and serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. After completing his enlistment, he took the exam to become a sheriff’s deputy and became a deputy in December 1978.

Educated at the University of La Verne, Cal State Northridge and Ventura College, Tennessen has served as captain of the Countywide Crime Suppression Unit and in various posts, including three years at the Camarillo substation, academy director of regional training and as operations officer for east county in Thousand Oaks.

He also served with the county’s special enforcement and Special Weapons and Tactics divisions and in the county’s rural Lockwood Valley area.

Promoted to commander July 4, Tennessen’s most recent post was as head of the Sentenced Facilities Division, which includes the Todd Road Jail in Santa Paula and the Honor Farm in Ojai.

In addition to the appointment of Tennessen, the five-member council unanimously approved applying to the U.S. Department of Justice for up to $300,000 for the city’s Community Policing Program. It includes the hiring of four new deputies at a cost of $25,000 per position for three years.