About a month after announcing sweeping changes to the San Diego Police Department’s organizational structure, Chief Scott Wahl has appointed his new leadership team.
The shifts were marked by the demotions of two assistant chiefs — something that hasn’t happened in decades. A third assistant chief will retire this month, department officials confirmed. The changes also mean none of the department’s top leaders is Latino, a group that makes up about 30 percent of San Diego’s population, according to census figures.
Since being tapped by Mayor Todd Gloria in March, Wahl has discussed the need for a new model that could keep better pace with the complexity of policing and the department’s growth. He said when he unveiled the restructure in June that the changes were designed to help the department work more efficiently and with more balanced workloads so it’s well positioned to tackle urgent challenges such as recruitment and retention struggles, the community’s desire for more engagement and transparency, lengthy response times and racial disparities.
Under the old model, department leadership included the chief, an executive chief and a team of seven assistant chiefs. The new structure replaces four of the seven assistant chief spots with commanders — a position that falls between assistant chief and captain — and weaves in an assistant director of finance, a civilian position, at the assistant chief level. The reorganization also features an elevated captain who serves alongside the four commanders.
The department’s new team was posted to the city’s website Thursday evening. Assistant Chiefs Tina Williams and Rudy Tai will continue to serve in those roles. They will be ed by Mike Holden, who previously served as a captain of the department’s Northeastern Division. Four additional captains — Benjerwin Manansala, Benjamin Kelso, Shawn Takeuchi and Daniel Grubbs — were promoted to the commander rank.
Kyle Meaux will serve as the department’s finance director, and Capt. Matt Novak, previously in investigations, will serve alongside the department’s commanders as head of the newly created Special Operations Branch.
Assistant Chiefs Terence Charlot and Bernie Colon were placed in captain positions and will oversee the department’s Northwestern and Northeastern divisions, respectively. Assistant Chief Tom Underwood will retire this month, officials said.
Both Charlot and Colon said in emails Thursday evening that their new placements stemmed from the department’s historic restructuring, not discipline or performance-related issues.
The department’s new crop of leaders includes one woman and five people of color. However, none of them identify as Latino.
“The San Diego Police Department promotes individuals based on their skills, qualifications and performance,” said Ashley Nicholes, the department’s communications manager. “While we strive to meet diversity goals, it may not be possible every time to meet diversity in every category.”
She added that the department’s captain rank — which s for about 1 percent of sworn staff — should not be discounted as a leadership position. Of the eight captains most recently promoted, two were Latino.
Wahl’s leadership team is likely to remain in flux, as a host of retirements are expected over the next several years. For example, all three of the department’s assistant chiefs are slated to retire by February 2026.
“We must be ready to absorb the loss of experience and work toward developing our leaders now to step into those roles,” Nicholes said.
The Police Department is made up of about 2,500 employees, including about 1,885 sworn employees, about 500 professional staff and an additional 150 or so part-time workers. The department has long struggled to fill vacant positions, including about 180 officer spots.
The new leadership placements won’t be finalized until Aug. 3.
