Commander Teresa Ewins, SFPD’s highest-ranking LGBTQ member, nominated to be Lincoln, Nebraska’s Chief of Police 21-125
SFPD Chief Bill Scott hails Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird’s ‘stellar pick’ of a long-valued colleague and admired leader in the San Francisco Police Department
SAN FRANCISCO and LINCOLN, Neb. (June 29, 2021) — Lincoln, Nebraska Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird has nominated San Francisco Police Commander Teresa Ewins to be the new chief of police for the Lincoln Police Department. Commander Ewins would be the first-ever female police chief of Nebraska’s capital city if her nomination is approved by Lincoln’s seven-member city council.
Commander Ewins is a 26-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department and its highest ranking LGBTQ member. The California native was revealed to be among four finalists to take the helm of LPD earlier this month as part of a participatory, community-based interview process, which earned Ewins pre-announcement endorsements from the Lincoln Journal Star newspaper and the Lincoln Police Union.
“On behalf of her many friends and fans in the San Francisco Police Department, I want to congratulate our colleague, Commander Teresa Ewins, on her nomination as Lincoln, Nebraska’s Chief of Police — and also offer my compliments to Mayor Gaylor Baird on an absolutely stellar pick,” said SFPD Chief Bill Scott. “This is bittersweet news for SFPD, of course, but as much as we will miss Teresa, we couldn’t be happier for our colleague. Assuming her nomination is confirmed by the Lincoln City Council, I have every confidence that Lincoln’s residents, visitors, and police department members will be extraordinarily well served by Chief Ewins’ commitment to the principles of 21st century policing and her tireless dedication to those she is sworn to protect and serve.”
A valued member of the San Francisco Police Department’s command staff, Commander Ewins has been instrumental in leading groundbreaking reforms toward bias-free policing, serving as an executive sponsor on bias-related recommendations that emerged from SFPD’s voluntary, comprehensive Collaborative Reform Initiative to fulfill the promise of 21st century policing.
Over the course of her 26-year career in law enforcement, Commander Ewins has served in SFPD’s Field Operations Bureau, Investigations Bureau, and Special Operations Bureau in the Homeland Security and Tactical Company. She leaves a role responsible for commanding five of SFPD’s ten district police stations with responsibility for some 900 sworn officers. Commander Ewins holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and has completed the FBI National Academy; Harvard Kennedy School’s State and Local Government; and the Police Executive Research Forum’s (PERF) Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP).