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By Sara Appel-Lennon
  SAN DIEGO--Since Bill Kolender served as both San Diego Police Chief and Sheriff, finding his Police Chief badge reminded me of a scavenger hunt. Kolender was appointed the first Jewish Police Chief and the youngest nationally, but his badge isn't in the police museum, which opened in February of 2009. Instead Kolender’s Police Chief Badge is displayed with other memorabilia at the William B. Kolender Sheriff’s Museum.
Kolender recently retired after four terms as San Diego’s first Jewish Sheriff. The community, led by former California Governor Pete Wilson, will salute him at a retirement dinner Monday evening, October 5, at the Town & Country Hotel in the Hotel Circle area.
 Although none of Kolender’s personal memorabilia is at the Police Museum, there is a book of police history, showing him Kolender a young man next to his predecessor Ray Hoobler. Kolender hired journalist Pliny Castanien, who wrote “To Protect and Serve, A History of the San Diego Police Department and Its Chiefs.”
 Kolender spent more than 50 years in law enforcement including 32 years on the police force, 13 years as San Diego Police Chief, Director of California Youth Authority, and 14 years as San Diego Sheriff.
Originally from Chicago, Kolender moved to San Diego at age eleven. He attended Hoover High School, San Diego City College, and San Diego State University. He decided to join the police academy after a friend on the police force asked Kolender to join him on foot patrol.
In 1956 during his interview, Kolender’s recruiter said that he didn’t think people of his race became cops. Kolender, an Orthodox Jewish 21 year old, said that it was his religion, not his race. Five years later, the police academy enrolled
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Kolender in human relations classes sponsored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews. These classes paved the way for Kolender’s community work. In 1962 at age 26, he was the youngest to become Sergeant. At age 40 in 1975, he became the youngest police chief nationally to work in a big city.
His people skills served him well. Kolender evaluated officers by determining how much empathy, understanding, and flexibility they showed. This was a new method to evaluate officers compared to the stereotype of cops being evaluated based upon the number of tickets they wrote and how many people they arrested.
Kolender encouraged a new program called COP-community oriented policing, to encourage communication between the police and residents. Each officer was assigned a neighborhood for six months. to deter crime and reduce prejudice. The program received national recognition .
By speaking to Detective Sergeant Gary Mitrovich, who is a board member of the Police Museum, I learned there were several Kolender contributions which stood out during his police tenure. One was when Kolender hired a licensed psychologist for officers and their families to speak confidentially about personal matters at no cost. The second contribution occurred when Kolender defended his officers when the media referred to cops as “trigger happy” when civilians pointed a gun at a cop in the 1980s. In an interview, Mitrovitch repeated what Kolender said to the media “If you point a gun at us, that’s your death certificate.”
 In both the Police and Sheriff museums, toy guns are displayed to indicate how much they look like real guns, even at close range. In more than 50 years in law enforcement, while Kolender never shot anyone, he did have occasion to draw his gun when a man was beating his wife. The setting was many years later but in the same house where Kolender was raised.
Kolender’s achievements are numerous. At a time when Jews faced much discrimination, Kolender stepped forward to serve and protect the city of San Diego. He practiced and taught empathy, understanding, and flexibility both to his officers and to the community.
Both museums are a testament to our region's law enforcement. The San Diego Police Museum is at 4710 College Avenue. The William B. Kolender Sheriff's Museum is at 2384 San Diego Avenue.
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