Salinas Police Chief prepares to exit

After more than 30 years in law enforcement, Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin is retiring on Friday. Not only will it his 53rd birthday, it will be one day shy of his 28th anniversary with Salinas Police.

McMilllin said he decided to pursue a career in law enforcement because of a mentor who was also in the field. He gave up computer studies and put himself through the academy, getting his first job as a deputy with the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office in 1984. He later transferred to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office before coming to Salinas Police in 1988.

According to Salinas police, McMillin worked patrol, several gang units, vice/narcotics, administration, and various assignments as a detective, including homicide. He was a SWAT operator, team leader, and tactical commander before becoming chief of police in 2012. But after four years as Salinas’ top cop, he’s leaving the public sector for the private life.

KION 5/46 spoke to McMillin hours ahead of his final day, as he packed up years of history. His “archeological dig” of sorts brought him down memory lane.

“Just such incredible people at this job and that’s what I’m going to miss the most,” McMillin said. “And just the honor of being selected to be the chief of the department is probably the best part. It’s a hard job. But it’s a true honor.”

But he’s had a challenging four year tenure.

In 2014, there were four deadly officer involved shootings. He responded by bringing in the Department of Justice to review his department’s use of force policy.

2015 saw a record number of homicides with 40, 2016 is already outpacing that.

“The fact that our firearms violence rate and our murder rate have gone up is a predictable outcome of our reducing our police department staffing levels,” McMillin said.

Staffing has always been a problem. He said it’s also the reason he had not been able to do a citywide rollout of 21st Century Policing, even though the department was recognized as being one of the first in the country to do so.

“That kind of policing in game-changing,” McMillin said. “It will profoundly affect violence over the long-term by building safe neighborhoods, and that’s really where it starts. Not by going out and arresting people, we have to do that part. But where we can build safe neighborhoods where kids thrive and feel like they don’t have to join a gang or pick up a gun, that’s real public safety.”

But he’s proud of the police legitimacy and criminal procedural training officers have gone through, which he said changes the way officers interact with the community.

It’s to these same officers that he offers these parting words.

“Thanks for their service, they do an incredible and committed job every day. They do heroic things that the community never sees because they’re not braggadocious like that. And remind them that the overwhelming majority of people in Salinas really do appreciate and support the work that they do,” McMillin said.

He went on to thank the community for their support and understanding policing Salinas is a big challenge. A challenge that will now fall on the shoulders of his replacement, Greenfield Police Chief Adele Frese. McMillin has been helping her transition to her new position by familiarizing her with personnel, equipment and the structure of the department. She takes the reins in mid-October.

After Friday, McMillin is taking several months off to travel with his wife and visit his son, who is a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point.He will also back to the hobbies he once had to give up because of the job, including cycling and building. He’s also in no rush to get back to work. When he does, which would be in 2017 at the earliest, he would consider teaching or consulting.

Even though he’s taking off the badge, he still considers himself a brother in blue.

“I have no illusions about how much my identity is tied up into my job. You know, I’m 52 years old, I’ve got 32 years in law enforcement. Three-fifths of my life have been in this uniform. And so that kind of becomes part of the fabric of who you are,” McMillin said.