The City of Emeryville has hired BART Deputy Chief Jeff Jennings to fill the roll of the Emeryville Chief of Police. Jennings officially began his new role on Monday, December 28th.

The announcement of the hire was made at the December 15th city council meeting. “We had an extensive recruitment process and put our candidates through quite a trial,” noted City Manager Christine Daniel. Jennings was among 20 applicants who vied for the position.

Jennings replaces interim Chief Hank Shreeder who stepped in to temporarily fill the role while the city conducted its search. Shreeder served for six months following the retirement of former chief Jennifer Tejada.

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Jennings has 30 years of law enforcement experience including serving as Chief of Police for the City of Orinda from 2010- 2013. Jennings stepped in to serve as acting BART Police Chief following the 2016 retirement of Chief Kenton Rainey. Chief Rainey is credited for successfully implementing reforms in the wake of the 2009 high-profile police killing of Oscar Grant.

Jennings has both a Graduate and Masters degree in Public Administration from Golden Gate University. He lists his home residence as Vacaville in his LinkedIn profile.

“Chief [Jennings] is committed to the principles of 21st century policing and transparency in Law Enforcement,” the force shared on their Instagram account. “He is looking forward to serving the City of Emeryville and leading the great people at EPD.”

“I’m very exited about being back with municipal policing,” Jennings noted in a brief instagram story. “I miss the interaction with citizens, businesses and schools.”

Jennings steps in at a time when social justice driven city councils like Emeryville’s are increasingly applying pressures to local law enforcement agencies through criminal justice reforms and increased scrutiny of code-enforcement and use-of-force policies.

The EPD consists of 41 sworn officers and an additional staff of 17. Jennings will receive an annual base salary of $218,000, as well as benefits.

Feature Image: Emeryville PD Instagram page