SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Business Journal and San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce just named the top 50 Latino leaders of influence for 2024.
Among the recipients is Port of San Diego Harbor Police Chief Magda Fernandez. Fernandez was appointed chief in 2022. She’s the first Latina chief for Harbor Police, as well as the first Latina top cop in all of San Diego County.
“I’m very honored and humbled to be part of 50 top leaders in the region,” she said.
Fernandez has been the Harbor Police Chief for two and a half years, but her history with the department goes back much further to 2001 when she was first hired.
The recognition comes after having worked in various first responder roles, including as an EMT, a volunteer firefighter, and a rescue diver in her home state of Arizona.
“I started working at a hospital, Holy Cross Hospital in Arizona, and that’s where I got introduced into first responders, and that’s where I transitioned over into becoming a diver, and then rescue diver.”
Fernandez also served with the United States Coast Guard, where she investigated crimes, as well as environmental and marine casualties.
All of this, while being a single mom to three boys.
“This wasn’t easy for me. But it takes a village, right? There’s always ways to do things. Find those avenues. We have to normalize women in leadership positions. We have to normalize women in trades that are traditionally male dominated. So how do we do that? Right? How do we encourage that? We have voices. We have abilities to do things. I tell people, put yourself in positions where you can affect those changes,” said Fernandez.
For Fernandez, some of the changes she’d like to see start from within.
Since her appointment to chief, she has developed a five-year strategic plan focused on improving officer wellness, recruitment and retention.
The department is made up of more than 200 employees, including 132 officers, with room to hire 10 more.
Chief Fernandez is also focused on community engagement. The area Harbor Police serves stretches 34 miles of tidelands, which includes portions of San Diego, Coronado, National City, Imperial Beach and Chula Vista.
“So, we touch in some form or fashion, all those cities, all those jurisdictions and harbor police is responsible either for the primary law enforcement response in those areas across the board, including the airport and our waterways, or coordinating work collaboratively with all those law enforcement and fire agencies,” said Fernandez.”
More than anything, Chief Fernandez wants to lead by example, saying as the daughter of Mexican immigrants, she likes to take the lessons she’s learned throughout her career and inspire younger generations to dream big.
“My biggest goal is for people to be able to see themselves in me, as a Latina leader, and inspire other people that look like me to do the work that I’m doing right now,” said Fernandez.
