Carmelin Rivera, MS
Carmelin Rivera has more than twenty-five years of experience in law enforcement and in training managers and leaders across all levels of government. He currently holds the rank of Lieutenant for the San Diego Police Department. He supervises the Neighborhood Policing Teams which are tasked with addressing quality of life crimes and issues related to homelessness throughout the city. Lt. Rivera has worked a wide array of assignments, including patrol, gangs, domestic violence, sex crimes, child abuse and officer peer support and wellness.
As an instructor, Lt. Rivera has developed and/or facilitated courses and workshops on leadership, ethics, professionalism, emotional survival in the workplace, emotional intelligence, implicit bias, cultural diversity and effective interactions. Lt. Rivera collaborated with the Police Executive Research Forum and the Department of Justice to develop national best practices for employee wellness units in public safety. He is also partnering with local clergy to develop the San Diego Community Clergy Response Team, a community policing initiative that will pair clergy with public safety personnel to build community trust, de-escalate critical incidents and provide resources to community members.
He has presented at various national conferences, including IACP on various leadership topics. Lt. Rivera has a Bachelor’s in general studies from the University of Michigan and a Master of Science in Executive Leadership from the University of San Diego. Currently, he is a PhD student in the University of San Diego’s Leadership Studies program. His specialization is in Organizational Leadership and Consulting which involves leadership coaching. His research interests include toxic leadership and the role destructive organizational culture plays in establishing toxic workplaces. His passion is to develop exemplary, well-balanced leaders across all industries.