The first-ever woman to hold the position of police chief for the Chula Vista police department (CVPD) will be sworn in Friday, marking a major milestone for the City of Chula Vista.
Roxana Kennedy will be sworn in as the CVPD's 24th police chief in a public ceremony at 11 a.m. in the City Council Chambers, according to the CVPD. She will take over the position for the retiring police chief David Bejarano and serve a population of 265,000 residents.
Before she was selected as chief, Kennedy supervised the Patrol Operations Division of the Chula Vista Police Department as Second in Command, said a CVPD official. She oversaw the largest division in the police department, which is responsible for 67 percent of all the sworn personnel.
Her duties included managing Patrol, Traffic, School Resource Officers, Street Team and Gang Suppression Unit, Community Policing Unit, Community Relations and Crime Analysis. According to the CVPD, those divisions involve the use of canine units, Senior Volunteer Patrol, the Reserve Unit, Crisis Negotiations, SWAT, Mobile Field Force, bilingual services and mental health assistance to the Psychiatric Emergency Response Teams (PERT).
The department regards Kennedy highly, who has a well-established reputation for her outstanding work ethic, professionalism and dedication to the community, according to the CVPD.
Her commitment to the community and her passion for police work have allowed her to rapidly shoot up the ranks to become the first ever female Police Lieutenant for Chula Vista and a Police Captain back in 2013, according to the CVPD.
Kennedy has pursued an ambitious career with the CVPD for 24 years. With broad-ranging experience, she worked as the Unit Commander for 12 years for the Crisis Negotiation Team and the Mobile Force Unit. Besides that, she's in charge of a very active Wellness/Peer Support Team for the Department.
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Prior to joining the police force, Kennedy graduated from the California Coast University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management. She also graduated from the FBI National Academy in Class #243 and serves on the FBI National California Chapter Board of Directions. According to the CVPD, Kennedy serves as President of the San Diego Chapter of Woman Leaders in Law Enforcement.
In her spare time, Kennedy enjoys spending time with family and friends and volunteering at two non-profit organizations, according to the CVPD. That includes Project Compassion which provides medical aid throughout the world and Athletes for Education which helps disadvantaged youth throughout San Diego County.
