San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan has retired after nearly 30 years in law enforcement. Burguan, who stepped down last week, spoke about his departure to ABC 7 Eyewitness News.
"I'll miss the policing part," he told the station. "I certainly won't miss politics, or administrative work. None of us signed up to be administrators."
Burguan took over as chief of police in 2013, smack in the middle of the city’s bankruptcy. The police force was reduced from 350 officers to 200.
"(I was) trying to figure out how to deliver even basic services" during that time, he said.
Then came the terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center on December 2, 2015. It thrust Burguan into the national spotlight.
Fourteen people — most of them county workers — were killed that day. The police department was praised for its rapid response. After the shooting, some people started referring to Burguan as “America’s chief.” He calls that “a little embarrassing.”
Read more about Joseph Burguan’s career at the San Bernardino Sun.