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San Antonio officially has a new police chief. On Thursday, the San Antonio City Council unanimously confirmed Jesse Salame as the new head of the police department.
Salame joined SAPD in 1999. His 27-year career in the department includes leadership roles as a deputy chief in 2022 and, more recently, an appointment to assistant chief in 2024. He succeeds former Police Chief William McManus who announced his retirement earlier this year. Thirty-three people applied for the role, and five were interviewed.
Salame, 50, is a San Antonio native and graduated from Edison High School. His SAPD responsibilities have included overseeing internal affairs, the public information office, open records and the training academy. He’s also served as the department’s LGBTQ liaison.
City Manager Erik Walsh told members of the city council that he had the utmost confidence in Salame’s experience and commitment.
“His vision has been built upon trust, respect, and transparency, and that makes him an ideal choice to lead the police department into the future,” he said.
In the final moments before the council vote, Salame fielded questions from the council including from Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones who asked, among other things, his stance on immigration cooperation with federal authorities.
“It's not meant to be a 'gotcha' question,” she said. “But I think the community is interested to hear how their next chief of police is thinking through the state of the immigration enforcement activities now and what it means for the department.
Salame responded by saying the department's officers are not immigration agents and do not enforce immigration policy.
“The law, as it's written, is very specific in terms of the support that we are required to give when the federal government asks for it. We comply with those mandates. It doesn't matter how we feel or how I feel about the law personally. The law is the law, and my oath is to follow the law,” he said.
Salame added that the department provides a monthly update of immigration enforcement requests from ICE and that there have not been any requests over the last three months.
His priorities for the department include strategic data-driven initiatives and holistic approaches in driving down violent crime, community trust, and department morale.
“I also want to do a lot of work with our folks to make sure that they are healthy; the morale is good. I want leadership development all through the ranks, particularly at the sergeant rank, because that is where the culture is shaped,” he said.
San Antonio residents may be already familiar with Salame because he has also represented the police department as a spokesperson.
Salame had been serving in the acting role since July 11, when McManus began retirement about two months early. His appointment makes him the first new permanent chief in 20 years.
Currently SAPD has close to 3,000 officers and about 1,000 civilian employees. The proposed budget for 2027, which council will vote on next week, comes in close to $676.5 million — about a 7% increase over 2026.
Shortly after Salame’s swearing in, the city council considered and approved a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the San Antonio Police Officer’s Association.
