Pete Dunbar
Chief of Police (Retired), Pleasant Hill Police Department
& Course Facilitator and Instructor
Pete Dunbar started with the Oakland Police Department in 1982. He served in a variety of assignments and positions in Patrol, Investigations and Training. In 1999, he was appointed as a Deputy Chief, where he was assigned to Field Operations and Services. In February of 2006, he was appointed as Chief of Police of the Pleasant Hill Police Department and retired as Chief on September 28, 2012. On October 8, 2012, he was appointed as the Director of the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) where he worked until November of 2014. He received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Performance for his work while at POST. Dunbar received a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from the University of Santa Clara in 1982. He received a Master of Arts Degree in Education from San Diego State University in 2002.
Chief Dunbar has taught Strategic and Succession Planning in the POST Management Course for the San Diego Regional Training Center. He has been an instructor for the Chief’s Association in the topics of Ethics, Strategic and Succession Planning and the Leadership Challenge. He facilitated the Becoming a Police Chief Class (formerly The Role of the Police Chief) for four years and developed and facilitated Succeeding as a Police Chief since its inception. He has consulted with several departments regarding strategic and succession planning, including Huntington Beach and Grass Valley Police Departments. He is a graduate of POST Master Instructor Class 2.