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The Eureka City Council is slated to approve the city manager’s appointment of an interim police chief at its Jan. 4 meeting.

Todd Jarvis, who retired as executive assistant chief of the San Diego Police Department in November of 2019, is slated to start his new post a day earlier, according to the city’s news release.

“I look forward to the opportunity to work with the men and women of Eureka Police Department and help lead the department through the transition to a permanent chief,” Jarvis, who has 35 years of law enforcement experience, states in the release.

Jarvis will take the reins from Capt. Brian Stephens, who has served as acting chief since Dec. 1 following the sudden retirement of former Chief Steve Watson, who stepped down at the end of November.

Former EPD Chief Andrew Mills, who preceded Watson, also previously served with the San Diego Police Department.

“Chief Jarvis has a solid background in police operations and I look forward to his leadership at EPD and as part of the city’s management team,” City Manager Miles Slattery said in the release. “I would also like to thank Acting Chief Brian Stephens for his steadfast leadership at EPD during the last several weeks leading up to the arrival of Chief Jarvis.”

The second change in leadership in as many months comes as the city of Eureka is moving forward with taking disciplinary actions against five police officers stemming from the months-long investigation into the text messaging scandal that rocked the department earlier this year, when a unit of officers was revealed to have shared a host of vulgar, misogynistic, violent and dehumanizing text messages.

The EPD is also facing staffing shortages similar to others at departments across the state and the nation.

Read the city’s full release below:

The Eureka City Council will confirm the City Manager’s appointment of Todd Jarvis as Interim Police Chief at the January 4, 2022 Regular Council meeting. Chief Jarvis will begin employment with the City of Eureka effective January 3rd and comes to EPD with 35 years of law enforcement experience.

Chief Jarvis will serve as Interim Police Chief throughout the City’s recruitment process for a permanent Chief of Police. Interim Police Chief Jarvis started his career as a Community Service Officer and retired in November of 2019 as Executive Assistant Chief of Police for San Diego Police Department.

Chief Jarvis was second in command at SDPD, an agency consisting of 2043 sworn, 562 civilian budget positions and over 300 volunteers. Interim Police Chief Jarvis is a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Other educational credits include Advance Training School on Counterterrorism, Western State Counterterrorism Seminar, Tel-Aviv, Israel; Center for Creative Leadership; Drug Unit Commander’s Academy; and the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute Class. Chief Jarvis also holds Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Supervisory and Management California Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Certificates.

Interim Chief Jarvis stated, “I look forward to the opportunity to work with the men and women of Eureka Police Department and help the lead the department through the transition to a permanent Chief”.

 “Chief Jarvis has a solid background in Police operations and I look forward to his leadership at EPD and as part of the City’s management team”, said City Manager Miles Slattery. “I would also like to thank Acting Chief Brian Stephens for his steadfast leadership at EPD during the last several weeks leading up to the arrival of Chief Jarvis”.