San Diego’s new police chief Scott Wahl talks homelessness, staffing and his top priority – NBC 7 San Diego

San Diego’s new police chief visited NBC7’s studios Wednesday morning and answered questions about the changes he wants to make to the department.

Police Chief Scott Wahl said his top priority is to increase public trust in the police, and that without that, none of his goals for the police force can be achieved.

“My number one priority will always be building trust. It will never be number 2 or 3. It will always be my number one priority. Trust can be lost so quickly and it takes so long to build,” Wahl said.

This is where the concept of community policing comes in. Police Commissioner Wahl would like to see more officers in residential and beach communities listening to the real problems before an emergency call is made.

“The difference in engagement is that I want our officers and our leadership to listen from the perspective that we’re trying to understand where people are coming from. The experiences that they’ve had with our organization, and I think if you can just understand where people are coming from and drive a community-supportive policing approach, that means we’re taking the community’s problems and giving them a say in solving those problems before we step in with enforcement. Let’s step back and work on other alternatives.”

One of the major problems in San Diego is homelessness. Chief Wahl says more shelter beds are critical. He is in favor of the proposed mega shelter. He also said he would like to work with the city attorney to expunge the records of homeless people after they complete rehab to give them a path forward.

“With the restructuring, I want to make sure we’re working with the resources we have. The various service providers are doing a really great job of helping our homeless population. We shouldn’t be the first port of call when it comes to homelessness, but we are definitely the last line of defense to prevent people from getting to the point where they die on our streets,” Wahl said.

None of these changes can happen without more officers. The department has struggled with recruiting and retaining staff. Police Chief Wahl says he grew up knowing that policing was his calling, and he wants to recruit people with the same passion and desire to make a difference.

But how does one do it?

“You have to create an environment where people want to be involved. I’ve always felt like I’m part of something much bigger than me as an individual. I want to make sure our employees feel valued. One of my top three priorities is investing in leadership development. We need to make sure our employees have the training, the equipment and the support they need to do this job at a very high level,” Wahl said.

Chief Wahl was sworn in last week and has been with the department for 26 years.