JEWS IN BLUE
The Kosher Cops of San Diego
By Joel D. Amos

According to the National Shomrim, an association of Jewish Public Safety Professionals, in 1657 Asser Levy became the first Jewish law enforcer, serving as watchman of New Amsterdam, which became New York City.

As for San Diego, the number of Jewish officers has never been high, but one thing is for certain. “Bill Kolender was the first, and to date, only Jewish police chief of the San Diego Police Department,” said Steve Willard, vice president of the San Diego Police Historical Association.

David Cohen, who himself is Jewish and serves as head of media relations for the San Diego Police Department, says there is no specific information on numbers of Jewish officers - the department does not keep statistics on the religious makeup of its force.

What will not show up in any statistics is the role San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender and San Diego Police Department Sergeant Kevin Friedman will play in the future Jewish makeup of San Diego’s finest.

The Sheriff of San Diego County
Sheriff Kolender is 70 years old and has been defending the citizens of San Diego his entire career. Running for reelection for a fourth term this June, the Sheriff is not the country’s first Jewish Sheriff, but his influence on San Diego is immense. The question that begs to be asked, though, is what is life like for a Jew who runs the police force of the U.S.’s sixth largest city?

In his last election, his margin of victory was almost 200,000 as achieved 75 percent of the vote. With a budget of $500 million, the Sheriff’s office protects and serves the communities of Vista, San Marcos, Poway, Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Lemon Grove, Imperial Beach and Santee as well as San Diego‘s unincorporated regions.

In addition, Kolender’s office oversees 7 jails which book over 130,000 offenders a year. He also oversees the security for the institutions that judge those arrested in his jails. Kolender’s charges include court bailiffs, security and processors at over 150 courts.

Kolender was born in Chicago, Illinois and moved with his family at the age of 11 to San Diego where he attended Beth Jacob Synagogue, led by Rabbi Stern.

“That changed my life,” Kolender said. The young Kolender was the Rabbi’s first student after he and his wife survived the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. During his teachings the future lawman discovered his Rabbi witnessed his children burnt at the stake by the Nazis. “I was just a kid and I will never forget it. And the fact that I was the first one after the war - this obviously brought back some tremendous pain.”

As the bar mitzvah service commenced, the rabbi began to cry, then his student followed. “I don’t remember if I got through it,” Kolender said. The rabbi’s sacrifice had planted the seed of greatness in Kolender’s mind. Working closely with this man had forever altered him as a man and as a Jew. “I will never forget him or the experience.”

Kolender became a cop to pay for college. Although he had selflessly taken a job putting him in harm’s way to get an education, his father went ballistic on hearing of his son’s new vocation. “He’d say, ‘Bill, it’s a gentile’s job. Go to school, be somebody. I’m embarrassed,’” Kolender recalled. “Our people don’t do this.”

He shot through the ranks and at age 40 became the youngest police chief in U.S. history and now his career choice garnered his father’s endorsement. “The family joke is, when I became chief of police it was okay to be a policeman. He never did live to see me become sheriff,” Kolender says as he points to a prized picture of his parents with Pete Wilson, then mayor, eventual Senator and Governor.

Kolender tells the story of how at his dad’s 75th birthday party; the newly minted chief was led around a house full of Jews as his father introduced him to everyone. “This is my son, the police chief,” Kolender recalled. When the mayor arrived, his father’s grin exploded. “My father then begins to tell everyone ‘this is my son’s friend, the mayor.’”

Coming to the job equipped with the knowledge of what divisiveness has done to his people has fostered as diverse of an environment at the Sheriff’s office as possible. “It’s about what kind of human being you are and if you are a good officer,” Kolender said.

He speaks to every recruit telling them to take the job seriously, but not themselves. “I expect all of my employees to care about the public we serve and our personal values towards each other,” Kolender said. “That’s what I believe in, you have to care, first, be responsible and know what love means.”

Always present is the weight of the responsibility he possesses as a prominent elected Jewish individual. “I take that very seriously,” Kolender said.

He has kept company with statesmen and world leaders. Governor Schwarzenegger has become friendly with Kolender and appointed the Sheriff to the state’s Mental Health Commission. The late President Ronald Reagan offered him the position of head of the office of Immigration and Naturalization Service. He did not take the job, he and wife Lois had young children to take into account.

During his tenure as chief of police, Kolender demanded his officers have free access to a high-caliber psychological team after major national tragedies that unfolded on his watch. The 1978 Pacific South Airlines flight 182 crash in North Park which killed all 135 onboard, two people in the Cessna it collided with and seven people on the ground and the 1984 San Ysidro McDonald’s massacre where 21 people perished including five children and six teenagers.

“We did something right. 24 people walked out of that McDonald’s alive. But cops couldn’t handle it. It was awful. The grandfather with his grandson, the kids behind the counter,” Kolender said. “Do you know how many officers we lost after those tragedies? None.”

The San Diego Police Department Sergeant
Sgt. Friedman of the San Diego Police Department’s Traffic Division is a twenty-year veteran whose career in law enforcement is the culmination of a life-long dream. The 42 year old arrived on the force in 1985 and received his badge from then-police chief Kolender.

Born in Maryland, Friedman moved to San Diego in time to attend Patrick Henry High School. “I certainly think my folks made a good choice,” Friedman said. Growing up on the East Coast, Friedman never encountered anybody in his synagogue that worked in law enforcement. Yet, the career still beckoned him. “You know, back east it is really not a career path you would associate with being Jewish. So I had to fight through the subtle suggestions from my parents like ‘aren’t you going to do the lawyer or doctor routine like a good Jewish boy.’”

Upon his arrival in San Diego he joined the Explorer Program with the San Diego Police Department. He then became friendly with the campus police officer and had the opportunity to receive some insight into the more tedious parts of the job. “I got my feet wet learning the paperwork side of things,” Friedman said.

He applied to the department at 19. Accepted into the Regional Reserve Academy at Miramar, he received certification to become a reserve officer.

Four months after turning 21, an offer arrived from the San Diego Police Department’s Academy. “It was something I had enjoyed doing for free,” Friedman said. “But it was great to be paid for it!”

When Friedman’s family moved to San Diego, the top cop was Kolender. “I saw this man who was established in the Jewish community and a very prominent leader. He was someone that I could look at and say ‘you know something, there’s a Jewish guy who rose through the ranks and became the chief of police. He was a very popular leader. That actually helped inspired me,” Friedman said. He already knew his life direction but in view of the admiration Kolender commanded as police chief, he firmly believed law enforcement was a respectable vocation. “In essence, Kolender was the one who hired me. He was the one who gave me my badge at my academy graduation.”

Friedman, like Kolender doesn’t wear Judaism on his sleeve, but clearly it influences how he goes about his business. “My religious background has given me a foundation for the appreciation for the right thing to do,” Friedman said.

“As a youngster while going into someone’s home on a domestic disturbance I knew to tell them that these are the parameters to live your life under if you want to have a successful and functional relationship with one another, almost like playing a social worker,” he said. Which is a nod to his mother, Barbara.

“I feel a combination of both my religious foundation and my mom who was a licensed clinical social worker made me think that I can do this,” Friedman said. A social worker requires giving a lot of yourself; something Friedman does every day. “The kind of person my mom was gave me the insight. Seeing the way my mom was with people - I learned what was the right thing to do.

His father was also integral in not only his career choice, but how to excel at his position which involves maintaining his cool, often during tragic and dangerous situations while directing officers to best serve the public. “My dad was a business owner and had employees that were insanely loyal to him,” Friedman said.
“That’s one of the things I’ve learned. I've been a successful supervisor for ten years now. You can teach people a lot of the technical jobs we do, but one of the things you can’t teach people is how to build a good team.”

Friedman’s staff’s respect mirrors his father’s. He has more requests to join his force than he has positions. “The way my dad treated people that worked for him gave me the guidance to help me as I have continued in my career. It has certainly paid off.”

Near the end of the interview Friedman has to break - duty is calling. A person involved in a high-speed chase in a stolen car the evening before is now on the verge of death. “It didn’t sound like his condition was doing that well. So now I have to call the social worker over at the hospital. I believe that means they are going to be pulling the plug,” Friedman says.

It is another day and there is another citizen who needs his help, which is certainly an integral part of the job when your life is law enforcement.

To the Future
Being Jewish and a law officer need not be separate entities. Beginning with Asser Levy, Law enforcement history is populated by individuals who practiced the faith while protecting the citizenry. But, ever the joker, Kolender likes to greet all Jewish recruits to law enforcement in the same manner, reflective of his father. “What are you doing? It’s a gentile’s job. Go to school and be somebody.”

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