Police Chief Michael Marquez: Dedicated to the Students

<figure id="attachment_40292" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-40292" style="width: 272px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/featured/police-chief-michael-marquez-dedi…; rel="attachment wp-att-40292"><img loading="lazy" src="http://laprensa-sandiego.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/ChiefMarquezHea…; alt="" width="272" height="300" class="size-medium wp-image-40292"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-40292" class="wp-caption-text">Michael Marquez</figcaption></figure>
Sitting with his shiny police chief badge on his chest, Michael Marquez, the new chief of police for the San Diego Unified School District Police Department said it is a privilege to be in this position. 
“I have so much responsibility to make sure that we are protecting our kids, which is the reason why we exist,” Marquez said. 
Marquez, a San Diego native, grew up in National City after his family moved from Logan Heights when he was 10 years old. 
Marquez recalls that his parents were “strong” in guiding him throughout his journey of growing up in the city and also helped to keep him focused. His mother, originally from Zacatecas, Mexico, still lives in National City, as do other of his family members. 
Marquez says that he appreciates that his family from his mom’s side was large because he had many cousins to spend time with. 
“I have a lot of fond memories of that time as a kid, there were so many of us,” he said. “Every weekend there was a celebration.” 
He attended Sweetwater High School and completed his law enforcement training at the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute. He also holds a management certification from California Peace Officer Standards and Training.
Marquez said he always had an interest in joining law enforcement and he recalls being excited as a child whenever police cars would drive down the street with their lights on. 
 “It was just something that I was always drawn to and fascinated by,” he said. 
When Marquez was almost 16 years old he worked as a grocery clerk and would try to join conversations between the National City Police officers and the loss prevention team at the store. 
 He said those memories influence how he approaches teaching his officers to create relationships with the students at the schools.
“It’s so important that not only are we police officers on campus, but we’re the counselors, we’re the nurses, sometimes we’re mom and dad,” Marquez said. “We are not here to be the heavy hand of authority, but to be the guardians of our kids.” 
Marquez has been in law enforcement for almost 28 years. He began his career at the National City Police Department and worked there for over 11 years. 
He has been working for the District for almost 16 years and was the interim police chief for San Diego Unified for six months before officially becoming chief.
“To be in this position now, and have an opportunity to shape the work that our officers are doing is what I’m really looking forward to,” he said. 
He said in law enforcement every day is different, but that is something which he loves about the job. 
“Every day is challenging and every day is different, but the one thing that I get to do every single day is making a difference,” Marquez said. “Whether it’s with my officers or folks in the community, I get to make a difference, which is fantastic.” 
He said it takes a special kind of person to work for a school police department because school officers have to love working with kids. 
Marquez focuses on making sure that he and his officers think about what they can do to better help the kids in the District. Several programs in place allow them to interact with the children, such as the True Blue Buddies program. 
Now in its second year, the year-long program is intended to identify kids suffering from a lack of resources on a campus. Through a partnership with an elementary school and Target, these 30 students get to go on a back-to-school shopping spree. 
 “We are investing more of our time mentoring and coaching kids than we are being the authority of the law,” he said. 
One of the greatest lessons he has learned is that police officers are guardians, servants, and leaders, he said. 
The chief is not only devoted to his job, but also to his family. 
Marquez, 52, has two twin daughters who currently attend San Diego State University and a 13-year-old son. 
His son plays soccer for the Chula Vista Rebels Soccer Club and Marquez enjoys attending his games. 
Chief Marquez told La Prensa San Diego that he likes being involved in games and that when it comes to being “one of those dads” on the sidelines he sees it as “helping coach the kids.” 
“It’s so important for our parents to be involved with their kids. Opening those lines of communication and being involved, whether it be sports or school, is so important because they need that,” he said.