Adolfo Gonzales, Ed. D, Chief of
Police
National City Police Department, CA
2006 NLPOA Leadership Award Recipient
Appointed
as the Chief of the National City Police Department by Manager Chris Zapata on
July 27, 2004, Dr. Adolfo Gonzales oversees 87 sworn officers and 27
professional staff and volunteers.
Chief Gonzales directs all patrol, investigative and administrative operations
and administers an annual budget of over 17 million dollars. Chief Gonzales is
working to improve police services, enhance public confidence in the police,
reduce the City's crime rate, and help safeguard the second oldest city in the
county against terrorism.
The National City Police Department is taking critical steps to more effectively
police our City. We are restructuring the entire Department to 1) place more
resources in the community, 2) focus our resources on reducing crime, problem
solving and improving the quality of life, and 3) holding managers at every
level of the organization accountable for the quality of police services within
their respective areas of responsibility by being more responsive to local
community needs, and better training and
motivating our officer and supervisor. In short we are putting our Department in
a stronger position to accomplish our goals in a partnership with our residents
and other professional law enforcement agencies.
Chief Gonzales joined the National City Police Department with over twenty-five
years of law enforcement experience. Adolfo's policing career began in 1978,
when he was selected to participate in the San Diego Police Department's (SDPD)
Reserve Officer Program. A Strong advocate for community policing that embraces
partnership, collaboration, problem solving, and crime prevention and education,
Chief Gonzales was hired full-time by SDPD in 1979.
1996, Adolfo was
recruited by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to serve as an FBI
Executive Fellow, in Washington D.C.. He worked there for six months and
traveled throughout the United States, evaluating the effectiveness of the
various Violent Crimes Tasks Force and the work being done in the Weed and Seed
sites, and by 2001, rising through the ranks to become an Assistant Chief of
Police with the San Diego Police Department.
Chief Gonzales earned
his doctorate degree in leadership Science form the University of San Diego
(USD) in 1996. In 1989 Dr. Gonzales earned his masters in Education from San
Diego State University and in 1986, Adolfo earned his B.A. from National
University in Public Administration. Chief Gonzales is also a graduate of the
FBI national Academy. Dr. Gonzales is an adjunct faculty member of three local
colleges and universities in San Diego, and holds the Arthur B. Hughes Career
Achievement Award from USD.
Dr. Gonzalez is active in regional issues and cross-border relations. He serves
on the Board of Governors for the Jackie Robinson YMCA, San Diego Teen Choice
mentor, and sister-cities with Tecate and Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.
In his spare time, Chief Gonzales spends his all of time with family,
wife-Rosalia; daughters Melody and Christine and his son Marc.