{"id":275,"date":"2026-05-23T12:36:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T12:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275"},"modified":"2026-05-23T12:36:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T12:36:57","slug":"pittsburgs-next-police-chief-sworn-in-at-change-of-command-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburg’s next police chief sworn in at change-of-command ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

PITTSBURG \u2014 A police officer since 2001, Capt. Phil Galer was sworn in on Thursday as Pittsburg\u2019s 11th police chief.<\/p>\n

Read more Endorsement: Contra Costa community college bond measure well thought out<\/a><\/p>\n

Galer, who has worked across nearly every division of municipal policing, took over the top spot following the retirement of Steve Albanese in January.<\/p>\n

During a change-of-command ceremony Thursday, Galer reflected on the \u201ctruly remarkable\u201d progress and changes in the city, community, and policing over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis city looked a lot different, from the economic and residential growth to the significant reduction in crime, to the relationship and trust the police department has worked so hard to build within our community,\u201d said Galer.<\/p>\n

The department, Galer said, is in the \u201cage of transition and adaptation,\u201d with officers tapping into technological advances, including artificial intelligence, to serve the community.<\/p>\n

Pittsburg is one of only two departments in the region currently using advanced AI technologies, Galer said.<\/p>\n

Recent initiatives include the use of Axon\u2019s Draft One, an AI-assisted tool that has \u201csignificantly reduced\u201d overtime costs, which are \u201ctraditionally associated\u201d with report writing, Galer said.<\/p>\n

The changes have allowed officers to spend more time on the field with the communities they serve, rather than being bogged down with reports, he said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe have also adopted our AI translation software, which allows our officers with the push of a button on their body-worn camera to have full conversations in over 50 languages, further increasing our ability to connect, build trust, and provide professional service to the community,\u201d said Galer.<\/p>\n

Pittsburg City Manager Darin Gale said Galer\u2019s years of service dedicated to the city \u201cspeak volumes\u201d of his professionalism, integrity, and deep commitment to the city.<\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: San Francisco\u2019s luxury housing boom is a warning<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis appointment represents more than just a leadership change, it reflects a continuity of trust and a strength of developing leaders within our own ranks,\u201d said Gale.<\/p>\n

Gale said the new police chief has demonstrated his dedication to public safety, transparency, accountability, and partnership with the community.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThese are what I would describe as Pittsburg pride values,\u201d said Gale.<\/p>\n

Pittsburg Mayor Dionne Adams said members of the police department and residents deserve strong leadership. She was confident that Galer was ready to provide it.<\/p>\n

Both Gale and Adams thanked Albanese for his nearly 30 years of service to the city.<\/p>\n

Albanese said he is proud of the men and women in the department serving the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationship between this police department and this community is something truly special. It has been built over time, through effort, listening, engagement, and a shared commitment to making this city better,\u201d said Albanese. \u201cWhen I look back over 29 years, I don\u2019t just see the progressive work here, I see the evolution of a police department and a city that has grown stronger together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albanese said he had confidence leaving the department in Galer\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future of the Pittsburg Police Department is bright because of the people who continue to serve within it, and because of the leadership that will carry the department forward,\u201d said Albanese.<\/p>\n

Galer holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in occupational studies and a master\u2019s degree in criminal justice.<\/p>\n

Read more Endorsement: Santa Clara Valley open space tax would be too much, too soon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pittsburg Police Department’s veteran officer Capt. Phil Galer takes over as the 11th police chief following the retirement of Steve Albanese in January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPittsburg’s next police chief sworn in at change-of-command ceremony - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pittsburg’s next police chief sworn in at change-of-command ceremony - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pittsburg Police Department's veteran officer Capt. Phil Galer takes over as the 11th police chief following the retirement of Steve Albanese in January.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-23T12:36:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/00d6c79fdbbec982e56098554a60e943.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Pittsburg’s next police chief sworn in at change-of-command ceremony\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T12:36:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275\"},\"wordCount\":562,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/00d6c79fdbbec982e56098554a60e943.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275\",\"name\":\"Pittsburg’s next police chief sworn in at change-of-command ceremony - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/00d6c79fdbbec982e56098554a60e943.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-23T12:36:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/00d6c79fdbbec982e56098554a60e943.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/00d6c79fdbbec982e56098554a60e943.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":768},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=275#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pittsburg’s next police chief sworn in at change-of-command ceremony\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pittsburg’s next police chief sworn in at change-of-command ceremony - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pittsburg’s next police chief sworn in at change-of-command ceremony - Next City Digest","og_description":"Pittsburg Police Department's veteran officer Capt. Phil Galer takes over as the 11th police chief following the retirement of Steve Albanese in January.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-05-23T12:36:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/00d6c79fdbbec982e56098554a60e943.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Pittsburg’s next police chief sworn in at change-of-command ceremony","datePublished":"2026-05-23T12:36:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275"},"wordCount":562,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/00d6c79fdbbec982e56098554a60e943.webp","articleSection":["Local News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275","name":"Pittsburg’s next police chief sworn in at change-of-command ceremony - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/00d6c79fdbbec982e56098554a60e943.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-23T12:36:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/00d6c79fdbbec982e56098554a60e943.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/00d6c79fdbbec982e56098554a60e943.webp","width":1024,"height":768},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=275#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pittsburg’s next police chief sworn in at change-of-command ceremony"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}