FIRST LATINA SWORN IN AS LOCAL POLICE CHIEF
Magda Fernandez is one of two women leading area agencies
The Harbor Police Department has a new top cop — a 21year veteran of the seaside department.
Police Chief Magda Fernandez was sworn in Thursday morning at the Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier. In that moment, she not only became the department’s first Latina chief, but the first in the county.
Fernandez joins a small group of women who have ascended to the position of police chief in the region, including Betty Kelepecz, who became the Harbor Police Department’s first woman chief in 2003. Fernandez will be one of two women chiefs across the county. The other is Chula Vista Police Chief Roxana Kennedy.
Jeffrey Geary was also promoted to assistant chief during Thursday’s ceremony.
“Chief Fernandez and Assistant Chief Geary are committed to community policing and public safety on our bayfront and throughout the region,” said Joe Stuyvesant, Port of San Diego president and CEO, in a statement. “Their diverse and broad experience, training, and skillsets will serve them well in their new roles, and we look forward to the continued excellence and evolution of the Harbor Police Department with them at the helm.”
The Harbor Police Department, which oversees San Diego Bay, the San Diego International Airport and other coastal areas in San Diego, Chula Vista, Coronado and Imperial Beach, employs more than 120 sworn officers.
The appointment comes amid several months of transition for the bayside department. In November, Harbor Police Chief Mark Stainbrook announced he would be leaving the position to lead the Beverly Hills Police Department. He was briefly succeeded by Kirk Nichols, who is now retired.
Fernandez started with the
department as a recruit in 2001. She rose through the ranks and, at one point, was the only Latina sergeant within the department. She was promoted to captain in February 2021 and named acting assistant chief in November. She has been serving as acting chief since early February.
Over the years, Fernandez has led various units with the department, including patrol, investigations and intelligence, and professional standards and training. She was a detective on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and helped establish the department’s Terrorism Liaison Officer program, which educates officers and the public about potential terrorism and other criminal activities.
Fernandez also served in the Coast Guard and as a rescue diver with the Santa Cruz Search and Rescue Team.
In 2018, Fernandez was awarded the Port’s 2018 Chairman’s Cup Award for her peer support work and was named Harbor Police Department Officer of the year in 2008. She earned a bachelor’s degree in
criminal justice from Colorado Technical University and recently graduated from the National Command & Staff College Leadership Program.
Geary, the new assistant chief, has been with the department for 20 years. Most recently, he oversaw the department’s administrative operations, which encompasses criminal investigations, homeland security initiates, training and other functions. He is an instructor and teaches a variety of skills, including law enforcement vessel and dive operations and marine firefighting.
He previously served as the commanding officer for patrol operations, a police field supervisor, a dive team supervisor and other positions. He has also worked overseas with the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in providing training to the Philippine National Police and Coast Guard.
Geary was awarded the Harbor Police Distinguished Service Medal in 2018 for this work with the dive team. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California Santa Barbara.