{"id":107729,"date":"2025-12-24T14:39:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T14:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/107729\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T14:39:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T14:39:18","slug":"sjpd-veteran-tapped-as-watsonvilles-next-top-cop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/107729\/","title":{"rendered":"SJPD veteran tapped as Watsonville\u2019s next top cop"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>WATSONVILLE \u2013 A San Jose police veteran is leaving the South Bay to take the reins as Watsonville\u2019s next top cop.<\/p>\n<p>Brian Shab is expected to step into the role early next year, the city of Watsonville announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChief Shab brings extensive experience in law enforcement and is a proven leader who has dedicated his career to public service,\u201d City Manager Tamara Vides said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Shab, a native of East San Jose, served eight years in the military and joined the San Jose Police Department in 1998. Over the years, he \u201chas managed teams, led major divisions and earned numerous commendations,\u201d including the Medal of Valor, Hazardous Duty Award and Outstanding Police Duty Award, according to the city.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"San Jose Assistant Chief of Police Brian Shab speaks during a press conference about at fatal officer-involved shooting that happened in San Jose Monday evening at the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)\" width=\"4800\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SJM-L-SCCOIS-1029-16.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"12291444\" \/>San Jose police veteran Brian Shab has been named Watsonville\u2019s next chief of police.\u00a0Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group<\/p>\n<p>Shab holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in criminal justice management from Union University and a Master of Science in law enforcement and public safety leadership from the University of San Diego.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, Shab said he was \u201chonored, humbled and excited\u201d to be chosen as Watsonville\u2019s next chief of police.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a Santa Cruz County resident, Watsonville holds a special place in my heart,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a beautifully diverse, hard-working and family-oriented community. I will lead with accountability, compassion and respect, and continue strengthening the community trust and relationships that are already a hallmark of the Watsonville police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>San Jose police Chief Paul Joseph told this news organization Shab will \u201cdefinitely be missed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we\u2019re excited for him and for the (Watsonville) department gaining such a strong chief,\u201d Joseph said. \u201cHis leadership made us better, and I know he\u2019ll do the same there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WATSONVILLE \u2013 A San Jose police veteran is leaving the South Bay to take the reins as Watsonville\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[184,58046,1471,12032,100,236,88,90,89,198,3234,200,11790],"class_list":["post-107729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-bay-area","tag-brian-shab","tag-central-coast","tag-chief","tag-news","tag-police","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-santa-cruz-county","tag-south-bay","tag-watsonville"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}