Last Updated on June 16, 2022 by BVN
Phyllis Kimber Wilcox |
On Wednesday, June 15th, 2022 Darren Goodman was sworn in as Police Chief for the City of San Bernardino–the first African American to hold the office in the city’s 116 year history.
Prior to being appointed to this position, Goodman served in law enforcement for over thirty one years including as Chief of Police for the cities of Upland and Chino Hills. He also spent 21 years in service with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
The ceremony was attended by police chiefs from several neighboring cities, members of the community in addition to family. After an invocation by Police Chaplain Nelson Glass, 4th Ward Councilman Fred Shorett, the longest serving member of the city council, welcomed the new Chief.
“While experience and longevity are important attributes of a Chief it is his other qualities that make Chief Goodman the clear choice to lead our department. San Bernardino will soon learn the Chief is a hands-on leader. I think we’ve already seen that in the first two weeks he’s been here engaging with members of the community.
The Chief is a problem solver, Shorett continued, “recognizing challenges, identifying solutions and addressing them head on. The Chief is an innovative leader who will work collaboratively to get things done.”
Chief Goodman was sworn in by his wife Shawna Goodman after which Goodman thanked everyone for coming including his wife, family and others, including the other law enforcement leaders.
He went on to say, “You heard about my journey, you heard about my career, so I won’t be redundant but what I want to talk about is here and now.”
Goodman highlighted how the San Bernardino Police Department serves the second largest city in the Inland Empire and the eighteenth largest city in the state of California and stressed how he viewed serving as its leader as an honor and a privilege. “I wouldn’t have accepted this appointment if it wasn’t for the people who work for the San Bernardino P.D. I really have been impressed these last two weeks.”
“The other reason I accepted this job,” he added, “is I believe in the potential of San Bernardino, I really do. I believe in the hope that still exists. There’s some great people in this city and they’ve been here a long time fighting, struggling, hoping to see their quality of life improve. I want to be a part of that. I think that we can get there.”
Goodman heralded his team as “fantastic” and expressed their support to help him achieve his goals. “We’re going to make some changes, we’re going to make some improvements,” he promised.
“I can guarantee I will be relentless and unapologetic in our pursuit of the criminals that are destroying the city. We will enforce the law, we will do it fairly, with dignity, professionalism and respect for all people, but we will strike that balance of being firm and making sure we hold people accountable as we hold ourselves accountable.”
Goodman went on to say he will always stand up for his officers when they do the right thing. “I will always recognize the wonderful things they do day in and day out and I will never miss an opportunity to share that with the public.”He further confirmed,“I will stand front and center and own any mistakes we may make.”