We had a strong audience today with many guests, who came to hear San Diego's past Chief of Police Shelley Zimmerman.
Then we had Ken and Molly talk about the progress on Bocce sponsor levels and it looks like the funds have reached almost $52K. Malcolm confirmed that 11 breweries signed up for the beer competition, which will be held at the Hilton Del Mar on Sunday Sep 15, 2019.
Radia gave a brief summary on Youth Services and mentioned that Model UN is going to be on March 28/29, 2020.
We then had Bev Liberman give her quick 1-minute talk on what inspired her to be a Rotarian.
### "From Undercover Cop To Chief of Police" by Shelley Zimmerman
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Shelley Zimmerman joined National University in January of 2019 as a Chancellor appointed professor focusing on public safety and leadership.
Prior to this appointment Chief Shelley Zimmerman was hired by the San Diego Police Department in October of 1982. She was promoted to Chief of Police on March 4, 2014 and retired on March 2, 2018 after an illustrious thirty-five-year career. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio and is a graduate of The Ohio State University, with a degree in Criminal Justice. She is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy, FBINA #241.
During Chief Zimmerman’s tenure as Chief (2014-2018) San Diego experienced historic low crime rates, including the lowest homicide rate per capita of any of the largest cities in the country. In 2017, the City of San Diego had the lowest overall crime in the past 49 years and was named the safest large city in America.
Chief Zimmerman received numerous awards and citations throughout her career which included; the San Diego Press Club Headliner of the year award for her undercover work and the San Diego Police Foundation Women in Blue Award for her commitment to making San Diego one of the safest large cities in the United States.
She once had the opportunity to hold the Olympic torch when some part of the LA Olympics 1984 was held in San Diego. Another interesting story she mentioned was about how she worked as a prostitute to catch pimps and prevent other issues. Once a car pulled up and she could see that it was a 16-year old kid driving. She made a judgement call and let that kid go after giving him some solid advice. 15 years later she get a call and it turned out that it was that same kids, who had turned around and became a doctor with 2 kids. That was a very touching and rewarding moment for the Chief.
She was under-cover cop for many years and in case she did a school drug bust by getting into Patrick Henry school as a student. She somehow talked her way into the school without any transcripts! She later arrested 73 people. Her leadership skills as Chief of Police is bound by some of the principles listed above, which enables a culture of excellence in her department. She encourages all employees to talk about bad news directly with her. Her desk had this sign clearly displayed - "Bad News Welcomed Here" :-). The San Diego Police Dept. was the first one in the country to implement body cameras. Her success is tied to relationships that she builds with the community.
Chief Zimmerman is an avid sports fan and often participates in athletic charity fundraisers, such as, the Challenge Athlete's Foundation.
In the end, DMSB Club President Venky Venkatesh presented the speaker with the Joshua certificate that represents our club DMSB donating school supplies to schools in Malawi in the name of the speaker.
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