The San Diego Police Department (SDPD)’s Northern Division, which includes Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Mission Bay and La Jolla, welcomed on Oct. 29 its second new commander this year. Capt. Brian Ahearn is well known in the coastal communities, where he served as “beach lieutenant” from October 2005 to January 2008 under then-Northern Division Capt. Boyd Long. The change in command at Northern comes after only nine months and reflects shifting assignments stemming from another senior commander’s retirement. Northern’s outgoing commander, Capt. Al Guaderrama, has moved over to the coveted assignment of investigations, overseeing units like vice, child abuse, sex crimes, emergency negotiations, narcotics and the Family Justice Center. A friendly man with a broad smile and a quick quip — a tactic often helpful in defusing heated discussions — Ahearn describes himself as “having less hair but more gray” than on his previous Northern Division stint. Locals can expect to see him at community meetings, along with “beach” Lt. Paul Rorrison. The two men worked together in the department’s Internal Affairs Unit, along with Lt. Randy Jones, Northern’s investigations lieutenant. Promoted to captain in June 2011, Ahearn commanded Eastern Division for only three and half months before departing for the more complex and challenging Northern Division. Long, who is now assistant chief in charge of SDPD’s nine regional commands, said he regretted losing Guaderrama at Northern, but realized Ahearn provided a well-qualified replacement. “I wanted someone to go to Northern who understood the complexity of the issues involving alcohol and the beach problems,” Long said. “[Ahearn] has a great working knowledge of the region. I needed someone who could hit the ground running.” When then-lieutenant Ahearn was assigned to La Jolla and the beach communities, he focused on the Children’s Pool seal conflicts while also working behind the scenes — particularly with surfers — to deal with burglaries targeting La Jolla Shores beach users, Long said. Ahearn also handled alcohol-related issues dominating Pacific Beach, laying groundwork for implementing the beach alcohol ban enforcement. “He’s 100 percent committed and always planning ahead, and definitely believes in community policing,” Long said. A “proud native” of Hicksville, Long Island, hometown of musician Billy Joel, Ahearn, now 48, grew up in an Irish Catholic family, a child of divorced parents and without a clear direction. While in college and holding down a job bagging groceries, “I realized there was more to life than sitting on a barstool,” but he didn’t know what he wanted to do. On his first, transformational plane trip at 19 to visit a friend in San Diego, he discovered a new life and his future home. Quitting college, he moved to San Diego later that year in 1983 and found a job as a warehouseman in Kearny Mesa. Ahearn said he realized it was time to do something with his life when he met his future wife, Jackie, a registered nurse who was then working at a nearby deli. He continued working as a warehouseman while resuming college part-time at San Diego State University, graduating with a B.S. degree in criminal justice administration in 1992. The couple settled in Santee following their marriage, raising two children who are now in their late teens. Ahearn returns to Northern Division after a rich and varied 25-year career, moving up the SDPD chain of command. He twice served in the Police Academy, first as a training officer and later as the sergeant overseeing an entire class of trainees, as well as a domestic-violence investigator working under the pioneering family justice model. He recently completed two and a half years as the lieutenant overseeing the department’s internal affairs arm, the unit that looks into complaints against officers. “It’s the most challenging part: to be told that we don’t have good police officers,” Ahearn said.  “I loved the job. Every complaint was a story.” He said every investigation must be facts-driven. “Don’t ever minimize a citizen’s complaint,” Ahearn reflected. It is a principle he followed as Northern’s beach lieutenant. Ahearn’s Northern Division is known for its continuity of officers. While he’s been away three and a half years, many Northern officers, including those on the beach team, have remained as long as 15 years. “They have a sense of ownership. It’s community policing as it’s meant to be,” Ahearn said. Ahearn said he plans to talk with community representatives to assess the situation before determining priorities. “I don’t want to police Northern the way we did it before. We need to be progressive and keep moving forward,” he said. The city’s budget challenges and the diminished number of officers on the street are situations that will present challenges, Ahearn admitted. Response time may be slower, he said, but officers will respond. To reach Ahearn directly, call (858) 552-1710, or email [email protected].