Role for Intelligence-Led and Traditional Policing in San Diego

Organizational Structure of the Sdpd

Police Organizational Structure

Organizational Structure of the San Diego Police Department

Organizational Structure of the San Diego Police Department

Although the most recent organizational chart for the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) was created in 2012, William M. Lansdowne is no longer the Chief of Police for the City of San Diego. The current Chief of Police is Shelly Zimmerman (City of San Diego, 2014). Chief Zimmerman does not report directly to the mayor, but to Scott Chadwick, Chief Operating Officer for the city government. Directly under the police chief is the Executive Assistant Chief (EAC) within the Department of Operations, through which Patrol Operations, Special Operations, Centralized Investigations, and Neighborhood Policing are controlled. The Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) is an independent unit, whose commander reports directly to the Chief of Police. The CIU collects intelligence related to organized crime for investigations and prosecutors and coordinates these activities with law enforcement officials from Mexico (SDPD, 2014). The Department of Operations and the CIU are the only sections that report directly to the Chief of Police.

The EAC represents the main administrative hub of the department and is the go-to person for the assistant police chiefs heading Patrol Operations, Special Operations, Centralized Investigations, and Neighborhood Policing (SDPD, 2012). The heads of Administrative Services, Wellness Unit, Internal Affairs, Media/PIO, and Chief's Office Administration also report to the EAC.

The Assistant Chief in Patrol Operations (ACPO) runs the day-to-day street-level policing activity for the City of San Diego and oversees operations for the nine policing districts within the city (SDPD, 2012). The ACPO also oversees homeless outreach and the watch commander. The Assistant Chief in Special Operations (ACSO) oversees policing activities related to traffic, including investigations, air support, canine, fleet safety, motors, parking, special events, SWAT, and others. The property room and liaison with Homeland Security is also handled by the ACSO. The Assistant Chief in Centralized Investigations (ACCI) oversees the crime laboratory and investigations into diverse areas, including child abuse, sex crimes, narcotics, vice, identity theft, elder abuse, gangs, homicide, robbery, and auto theft. The Assistant Chief in Neighborhood Policing (ACNP) oversees officer recruiting and training, labor relations, human resources, review boards, psychological services, and the gang commission, in addition to others.

The organizational structure of the SDPD is consistent with a prominent role for intelligence-led policing (Peterson, 2005). The CIU is a stand-alone unit reporting directly to the Chief of Police and is involved in gathering local, national, and international criminal intelligence about organized crime groups that impact or could impact the residents of San Diego, California, and the United States (SDPD, 2014). The CIU also maintains the informant computer database, thereby limiting access to this information. Intelligence-led policing enhances the effectiveness of more traditional policing efforts; however, scouring the internet for any information regarding the use of computational statistics (ComStat) by the SDPD retrieved zero relevant hits. Community-oriented Policing (COPs) is a stated focus of the SDPD, but they refer to it as neighborhood policing.