Sunnyvale’s top public safety officer is retiring after eight years of service.
Public Safety Chief Phan Ngo will step down at the end of April, after steering the city through its COVID-19 emergency response and bolstering community trust in the department. City Manager Tim Kirby will appoint an interim chief while officials search for Ngo permanent replacement. Sunnyvale’s Department of Public Safety is an integrated department, meaning all officers receive police, fire and EMT training. The city employs roughly 200 officers.
“I feel very fortunate to have been in a position to serve alongside the men and women in this department, who I am immensely amazed at the work they do,” Ngo told San José Spotlight. “I would put them up against any police department or fire department in terms of the work they produce day in, day out. The community has been so welcoming to me and supportive of our officers since day one.”
Ngo joined the city in 2017, and before that he worked for the San Jose Police Department since 1989. His retirement caps 36 years in Silicon Valley law enforcement.
He said he pursued a career in law enforcement partly because of a conversation in one of his criminal justice classes at San Jose State University about the lack of Vietnamese American representation in law enforcement. The discussion made Ngo, who is Vietnamese American, want to get more involved.
In his first years with SJPD, Ngo said he was given special assignments around the city’s Vietnamese American community, which affected his philosophy of policing as community service. He said it emphasized the importance of community policing and regularly engaging residents about their issues.
That focus helped Ngo begin and lead multiple community-centric programs once he got to Sunnyvale, including the Public Safety Citizens Academy and Emergency Preparedness programs. Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein said Ngo excelled in connecting with residents and maintaining community trust in the department, especially during the 2020 nationwide pushes for police accountability in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
“I think he’s really led the organization well and ensured that Sunnyvale continues to be the safest city, that we continue to have residents that really appreciate our Department of Public Safety,” Klein told San José Spotlight.
The next public safety chief will have to steer the department through multiple infrastructure projects, including renovating fire stations, and working on an analysis of the city’s need for paramedics.
City spokesperson Jennifer Garnett said the city will conduct a nationwide search and that residents can fill out a survey to weigh in on what they want to see in the next chief. The position is not yet open and a timeline hasn’t been ironed out yet, but Garnett said the listing is likely to open in the next two weeks and will close by the end of April. The position requires at least a bachelor’s degree in police science, fire science, public administration, political science or a related field and at least seven years in public safety.
Klein said he wants to find a chief with strong leadership skills who’s community-focused.
The Public Safety Officers Association ran an internal survey to see what its members want in a new chief. The survey found officers are looking for someone to advocate for the department and frontline officers, which was echoed by union President Devon Klein. He also said the department needs to continue modernizing its technology, especially data collection and analysis, pointing to the lack of data on medical responses.
“We’ve had our differences with Chief Ngo over the years, but at the same time (we) commend him on his dedicated 36 years of service to the public and to the community,” he told San José Spotlight. “Although we didn’t always agree, I can say we continuously worked to get past our differences to do what was best for the safety of Sunnyvale’s residents.”
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X.
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