SAN ANTONIO \u2013 San Antonio appointed its temporary police chief, but could he also be the permanent one?<\/p>\n
City Manager Erik Walsh tapped Assistant Chief Jesse Salame as acting San Antonio Police Chief on Wednesday after longtime SAPD Chief William McManus moved his planned retirement up by more than two months.<\/p>\n
Salame is a 26-year veteran of the department will be at the helm until the next chief is chosen, likely in September.<\/p>\n
McManus endorsed Salame to be his permanent successor, and Salame confirmed to KSAT he has applied for the job. <\/p>\n
Salame said he was \u201cextremely grateful\u201d for McManus\u2019s support and \u201cwould certainly hope\u201d that being chosen as his temporary replacement means he\u2019s on an early shortlist for the permanent job. <\/p>\n
In the meantime, Salame said he feels like a \u201csteward\u201d of the department and doesn\u2019t plan on any major changes or restructuring.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I was selected to do that, that\u2019s the time to do all those things,\u201d Salame said. \u201cAgain, my focus right now is really on just being that stable, steady leader that we need during this transition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salame graduated from the SAPD academy in 1999 and has been a homicide detective, a spokesman for the department, chief of staff and has been an assistant chief overseeing the operations support bureau since November 2024.<\/p>\n
For most of that time, Salame and the other 2,900 San Antonio Police officers have had the same chief: William McManus.<\/p>\n
McManus was hired to lead SAPD in 2006, and apart from a nine-month period in 2015 leading security at CPS Energy, he has been at the head of the department.<\/p>\n