Chief Jackie Gomez-Whiteley is a 33-year law enforcement professional having served with distinction in Orange, Los Angeles, and Monterey Counties. In 1986, she began her sworn career at the Orange Police Department where she worked in all three divisions: Patrol, Investigations, and Administration. She was the department’s first woman motor officer, as well as sergeant and lieutenant. In 1989, Jackie was involved in an officer-involved shooting of a kidnap and attempted murder suspect. Because of her actions, she was awarded the Medal of Valor.   

Gomez-Whiteley would go on to serve as a command level officer and Chief of Police at three other agencies in California: Cypress, Alhambra, Pacific Grove. In 2011, she was appointed Chief of Police and the first woman to serve as Police Chief of a municipal agency in Orange County, CA. Under her leadership, the Cypress Police Department was recognized multiple times for various community policing and trust building programs. She served as Interim Police Chief at Alhambra PD from 2016-2017 and at Pacific Grove PD from 2018-2019, where both agencies focused on updating their policy manuals in preparation for accreditation. In 2020, Chief Gomez-Whiteley was awarded the California Police Chiefs Association, Joe Malloy Memorial Award recognizing her lifetime of outstanding service and dedication and the long-lasting positive impact to the law enforcement profession.

Gomez-Whiteley obtained her Master of Arts degree from Chapman University in Organizational Leadership with a certificate in Public and Non-Profit Leadership. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola Marymount University in Psychology with a minor in Alcohol and Drug Studies. In 2007, Gomez-Whiteley graduated from the P.O.S.T. Command College, where she published an article in Police and Security News Magazine titled: Dirty Bombs: Calculating the Threat.

During her career, Gomez-Whiteley has been an adjunct instructor at various law enforcement training centers throughout the state for nearly 30 years and is Program Director at the prestigious California Police Chiefs Executive Leadership Institute at Drucker (Claremont Graduate University). Prior to founding Meliora PSC, she has maintained a successful consulting practice focused on leadership development and training, strategic planning, executive coaching and mentoring, organizational assessments, policy development and alignment, and other areas of public safety management throughout the country. Gomez-Whiteley continues to serve on many boards, is a member of the Chiefs Advisory Board for the California Police Chiefs Women Leaders in Law Enforcement, and consults and trains Police Chiefs and City Managers throughout the United States.