Dear Neighbor, 

San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit has announced his retirement from the San Diego Police Department next year.

Chief Nisleit has done a tremendous job leading SDPD and will be leaving the department so much better than he found it when he steps down from his post in June of next year. I greatly appreciate the Chief’s 36 years of dedication and innovation at the City. His hard work has helped San Diego remain one of the safest big cities in America.

The City is already working hard to find our next Police Chief because this position helps with the number one job of city government: keeping our communities safe.

We are on the hunt for a new, exceptional leader to serve as the next Police Chief of San Diego. I'm looking to recruit someone who’ll be a strong partner. Someone who’s up to the task of fairly enforcing the law, ensuring crimes are prosecuted, and keeping all residents safe.

We look forward to welcoming a leader who will inspire our officers, collaborate with our community, and most of all, stop at nothing to keep San Diegans – and visitors alike – safe.

As always, it’s an honor to serve as your Mayor. 

The Improved Children’s Park has Reopened, Ready to Serve Downtown Residents and Visitors

The new and improved Children’s Park is open to the public once again.

We’ve long known that this park had untapped potential to be a great public space. So Civic Communities assembled a team and worked with our Engineering and Capital Projects and Parks and Recreation departments to turn it into something that both activates the space and captures the imagination.

The new Children’s Park includes a large children’s play area, an adult exercise area, new picnic and lawn areas, and an off-leash dog run. 

We’ll also have a vendor at the park that serves food and drinks, and a public restroom staffed by an attendant.

The park now features a new walkway through the Civic Pond and an imaginative piece of public art by San Diego artist Miki Iwasaki.

This redesign of Children’s Park, one of Downtown’s most iconic parks, is a prime example of the work we’re doing across San Diego to open new parks in neighborhoods that lack open space and transform old, outdated parks into reimagined places for residents to gather, relax, take the kids, exercise and enjoy our near perfect year-round weather.

In the last fiscal year, we improved 12 parks and opened 4 new ones. This year, we’re anticipating improving 18 additional parks and opening 3 new parks.

This is a testament to the great work of City staff from Engineering and Capital Projects and Parks and Recreation.

But we can’t do this by ourselves. We count on partnerships with community members who tell us what they want to see in their community and neighborhood parks. So, thank you to all the area residents who participated in several community workshops and told us what they wanted right here in Children’s Park.

With the redevelopment and reopening of Children’s Park, we have transformed a previously underused space into a truly vibrant place for the community. Downtown residents and visitors now have an extraordinary park to gather, relax, picnic, play and exercise – part of our greater vision to make San Diego a city that works for all of us.

Read more about the redesign of Children’s Park on Inside San Diego, and be sure to bookmark the website to stay up to date on more City news and information.

San Diego Police Cut the Ribbon on Nation’s First Childcare Center Geared Toward Officers and Their Families  

After years in the making, the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) and Police Officers Association held a ribbon cutting for the nation’s first childcare center customized to meet the needs of law enforcement.

Thanks to our Police Officers Association and funding secured by Sen. Toni Atkins, San Diego is leading the way when it comes to supporting our law enforcement community. This first-in-the-nation childcare center is another way we are showing our commitment to recruit and retain our police officers.

The childcare center will be the first to offer San Diego Police officers extended-hour childcare at affordable rates thanks to a public-private partnership. The center will offer extended hours to accommodate non-traditional work schedules and call-out situations of police officers.

KinderCare is the approved childcare provider and will also pay its employees 20% above market rate salaries.

Read more about the innovative new facility on Inside San Diego. 

More Than 1,100 Tons of Trash Removed from City Streets and Sidewalks in First Year of New Program 

We recently passed the first anniversary of the City of San Diego’s Enhanced Hot Spot Program.

Over the past year, our Environmental Services Department crews have removed 1,180 tons of trash and debris around homeless encampments. That's nearly equivalent to the weight of five Statues of Liberty!

This work helps keep our streets and sidewalk clean while we simultaneously work to get folks off the street and into safer living situations.

Our Hot Spot crews are busy seven days a week making San Diego sidewalks and streets cleaner and safer for everyone. 

New Safe Sidewalks Program Launches to Improve Safety and Streamline Sidewalk Repair Permitting 

State law makes property owners responsible for maintenance of sidewalks in front of their property, and failure to fix broken sidewalks create safety hazards and legal liability for people across San Diego.

But fixing sidewalks can be unaffordable for many property owners. To help alleviate the financial pressure on residents, the City is launching our Safe Sidewalks Program, which will waive permit fees and help expedite the process for property owners to make needed sidewalk repairs, saving up to $2,100 per project.

This program is part of a citywide effort to improve sidewalks in all communities. 

Learn more about the Safe Sidewalks Program by visiting sandiego.gov/safesidewalks.