Ed Aceves, Grossmont College, A.S. 1991

La Mesa Police Chief Ed Aceves thanks one of his Administration of Justice instructors at Grossmont College for launching his law enforcement career.

“At a big major university, you aren’t going to have a personal relationship with the chair of a department,” Aceves said of Professor George Hernandez. “To have someone that influential and supportive of your educational goals, especially as young person going to school, makes a huge difference.”

Aceves entered Grossmont College after high school, but left to attend the police academy when was hired as a police officer for La Mesa. Three years later, he was back and finished his AS degree in 1991. Aceves received his bachelor’s degree from California State University, Long Beach in 2005 and in June, completed a master’s degree in criminal justice and security from the University of Phoenix.

Aceves worked his entire career in La Mesa, first as a patrol officer, later in the DARE drug awareness program, as a SWAT team leader and as a trainer for the department in defensive tactics. He has taught at the police academy and worked security at the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996, and attended the FBI National Academy in Quantico for a three-month leadership program.

“I can barely remember what I had for breakfast,” Aceves joked. “The fact I can remember George so well after 20 plus-years shows that he obviously had some influence.”