Chief John Carli, now serving as mayor for the City of Vacaville, has 32 years of experience in law enforcement and is recognized as a progressive and innovative leader who promotes best practices in officer safety and wellness. Even after retiring in March 2021, Chief Carli has been an outspoken advocate and thought leader for the profession, with his most relevant work focusing on national best practices in policing, community engagement, and officer safety and wellness. He was instrumental in implementing body-worn cameras to all officers in his agency as early as 2009. In the summer of 2016, Chief Carli was summoned to the White House to meet with President Obama in the wake of national high-profile officer-involved fatal encounters. Since then, he has dedicated his time and efforts to improve the profession and implement meaningful change. His preventive approach to promoting this culture of wellness led to the development of a unique law enforcement wellness app that was recently highlighted at the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) national town hall meeting focusing on police officer suicides. More recently in 2020, the Vacaville Police Department, under his leadership, received the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund Destination Zero Award within the category of General Officer Safety.
Chief Carli is a nationally recognized authority regarding use-of-force and de-escalation in policing, particularly addressing public trust and police legitimacy. He is an Executive Fellow with the National Policing Institute, focusing on the continuous improvement within the policing profession throughout his career. He holds a master of science degree in Strategic Leadership and is a graduate of PERF’s Senior Management Institute for Police.
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Retired City Manager City of Vista, CA
