Craig Schwartz, MA

Craig Schwartz serves as the Chief of Police for the City of Pacific, Wash. Previously, he retired as a Captain after a nearly 27-year career with the Santa Rosa Police Department. In his last assignment, he led the Department’s Field Services Division, with over 100 employees and volunteers working in patrol, tactical teams, traffic, and school resource officers. Over the course of his career, he held numerous assignments, spending time as an officer, supervisor, and manager in patrol, investigations, SWAT, training, and personnel.

As a Sergeant, Craig supervised SRPD’s Gang Crimes Team and served as a member of the Operation Team with Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force. While supervising the newly reconstituted Gang Team, he initiated the Department’s participation in an FBI Safe Streets Task Force and also numerous collaborative relationships with other agencies and service providers to aid in gang prevention, intervention, and enforcement. Among Schwartz’s projects as a Lieutenant was the initiation and management of the Santa Rosa Police Department’s social media program. He has used the agency’s social media platforms as an engagement tool to help bring potentially controversial technology projects like body-worn cameras and drones to his department, and also to promote engagement and build trust on issues like police use of force. Most recently, he was the acting Chief of Police and the EOC Operations Section Chief when wildfires destroyed 3,000 homes in the City of Santa Rosa in October 2017. He and his team used the department’s social media pages to rapidly communicate critical and at times lifesaving information.

Chief Schwartz earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1990, and an MA in Homeland Defense and Security from the Naval Postgraduate School in December 2017. His thesis studied law enforcement drone use and provided recommendations on how local police agencies can earn community trust for the use of unmanned aircraft. He is using his research to bring a drone program to his agency. Chief Schwartz has written articles for The Police Chief magazine and The Santa Rosa Press Democrat. He also writes a blog on policing issues and his posts have been featured online by affiliates of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, at IACPNet. He is a member of the First Responder Resource Group with the Department of Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Directorate and the IACP’s Aviation Committee.

Student Reviews

"The professor was very professional, intelligent, and was always engaged with all of his students. He was engaged with everyone on the discussion boards, provided great and fast feedback on all assignments, and truly took an interest in his class by even providing information throughout the class on current events in law enforcement."

-Summer '20 Student
"Professor Schwartz did an amazing job and I learned from his constructive feedback on writing assignments, and his Discussion Board responses."

-Summer '20 Student
"Professor Schwartz engaged with students on every discussion board and helped with facilitating further commentary. He provided very useful feedback on these discussions and my essays. I felt he provided constructive criticism respectfully and wanted me to be a better student."

-Summer '20 Student
"Professor Schwartz was highly engaged and interacted with everyone. He was honest and contributed very valuable insight and examples to further the learning experience. He provided valuable critiques on assignments and should be considered an asset to this program."

-Summer '20 Student
"Professor Schwartz was very helpful in working around my schedule and was very involved in class discussions. He really invested himself in his students and did well with the course."

-Summer '19 Student

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Craig Schwartz, MA