Police Chief Appointment

At a glance

• What: Confirmation of Salame, a native San Antonian and former Deputy Chief, as Chief of the San Antonio Police Department.
• Where it stands: Confirmed 11-0 on September 10, 2026 and sworn in by the City Clerk that day.
• Next: Viagran asked that new police staffing wait until the new Chief and the new labor contract are tested for a year.

Selection

• Walsh recommended Salame after a national search that drew 30 applicants, with input from community stakeholders, an employee survey and open roundtables; interview panels included community members, city executives and SAPD uniformed and civilian employees.
• Jones asked for his top three priorities: strategic initiatives to improve public safety, the health of personnel and community trust. He said he would work with Metro Health on domestic violence. On immigration, he said state law requires SAPD to provide mandated support to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement but SAPD is not the enforcement entity for immigration law.
• Every member who spoke praised the choice, citing his rise through the ranks, community roots and data-driven approach (Alderete Gavito, Galvan, Whyte, Kaur, Castillo, Spears, Mungia, Viagran, Meza Gonzalez, McKee-Rodriguez). Meza Gonzalez noted a state mandate for school district officers comes without funding and SAPD helped meet the need.
• Whyte moved to approve and Castillo seconded; carried 11-0.

Sources

• City Council A Session 2026-09-10 minutes: https://webapp9.sanantonio.gov/FileNetArchive/{982EBC29-69EF-4560-9B60-7E4EB0B487AB}/{982EBC29-69EF-4560-9B60-7E4EB0B487AB}.pdf
• City Council A Session 2026-09-17 minutes: https://webapp9.sanantonio.gov/FileNetArchive/{F935981B-703F-4005-959E-02EF4E88F5A3}/{F935981B-703F-4005-959E-02EF4E88F5A3}.pdf
• City Council Budget Work Session 2026-09-16 minutes: https://webapp9.sanantonio.gov/FileNetArchive/{ADC76655-2C96-49F2-B36E-3EDA50521C98}/{ADC76655-2C96-49F2-B36E-3EDA50521C98}.pdf

Log

2026-09-17 - City Council A Session

Salame said he had been sworn in the week before and was working on interagency coordination; he had not yet analyzed Northside Substation staffing needs.

2026-09-16 - City Council Budget Work Session

Salame told Council that adding SAFFE officers would not improve call response times.

2026-09-10 - City Council A Session

Confirmed 11-0 and sworn in.