Interim Chief of Police, Bellevue Police Department

Chief Wendell J. Shirley (Interim) was hired by the City of Bellevue as an Assistant Chief of Police on March 8, 2021, and on August 2, 2021, was selected to serve as the Interim Chief of Police by the City Manager. Prior to the City of Bellevue, Chief Shirley had more than 25 years of law enforcement experience with the Santa Monica Police Department in Santa Monica, California.

During his law enforcement career, he commanded every Santa Monica Police Department division and retired as Captain of the Criminal Investigations Division in 2019. He developed and refined his skills in many areas, including management, operations, leading and building teams, project management, budget administration, new program and process development and deployment, performance management, and stakeholder (community) relationship management. He is skilled in all aspects of law enforcement, has led diverse units and teams, and directed organizations to achieve their maximum potential.

He was also selected as part of a law enforcement group that went to Israel on an Ultimate Counter-Terrorism tour. He served as an instructor for the city’s Supervisor Management Institute on coaching, mentoring, and succession planning and served as the Department’s coordinator for Principled Policing-Procedural Justice/Implicit Bias Training. For five years, Chief Shirley also served as a Law Enforcement facilitator at the Simon Wiesenthal, Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, California, and was an adjunct faculty member at Los Angeles Mission Colleges, Law/Administration of Justice Department. He earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology/Criminology from California State University, Northridge. He also completed the following professional development training programs/courses:

  1. Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI), National Academy class 231
  2. Command College, Police Officers Standards and Training
  3. Senior Management Institute of Police, Boston University
  4. Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Leadership Course
  5. Columbia University, Business School, High Impact Leadership Course
  6. Georgetown University, Diversion Certificate Program, Center for Juvenile Justice Reform