Port of San Diego Harbor Police: pay, hiring and what the job is like

Polices San Diego Bay, the waterfront tidelands in five cities, and San Diego International Airport. Every officer is cross-trained as a marine firefighter.

Department size

About 140 sworn

Press figure, not a Port number

Calls for service a year

62,027

Calls for service in 2025, department report. About 170 a day

Chief

Magda Fernandez

Chief of Police & Public Safety (the Harbor Police Strategic Plan titles her Chief of Police, Vice President of Public Safety)

About Harbor Police

Outlined: the five Port member cities around San Diego Bay. Harbor Police works the Port tidelands along the bay in those cities, and the airport. Outlines: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files, 2023, 1:500,000.

To protect and serve with excellence through proactive policing, community engagement, and serving with honor, professionalism, and dedication.Mission statement, source

Area covered: Polices San Diego Bay and the Port tidelands in the Port's five member cities (Chula Vista, Coronado, Imperial Beach, National City and San Diego), with police and marine firefighting on the bay, and is contracted to police San Diego International Airport. The Port describes its area as 34 miles of waterfront along San Diego Bay.
Headquarters: 3380 N. Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101
Stations: 4 locations listed: Headquarters (3380 N. Harbor Drive) plus 3 sub-stations: Shelter Island Station (1401 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego, CA 92106), South Bay Substation (Chula Vista Launch Ramp), and San Diego International Airport (Terminal 1)
Specialty units: Dive & Rescue team, MARTAC (SWAT-trained maritime tactical team), K9 team (explosives detection, airport patrol), Marine Firefighting, Vessel Patrol, Bicycle Patrol
First assignment: Rotation of airport, patrol car and boat

Departments next door

Departments that police the cities around the bay.

Chula Vista Police Coronado Police National City Police San Diego Police Sheriff

Compare Harbor Police with its neighbors

A typical day at Harbor Police

Calls for service: About 170 a day
People stopped: About 15 a day
Busiest hour for stops: 10pm to 11pm

Harbor Police

Average of 11

12am3am6am9am12pm3pm6pm9pm

Darker means a larger share of stops in that hour.

What officers do on the job

47% of calls are airport-related

29,268 of 61,806 calls for service, July 2025 to June 2026.

Airport-related 47%Bay and waterfront 53%

Source: Harbor Police update to the Port board, Aug 11, 2026.

Working here

SalaryStarts at $104,915. Top salary $129,022.Getting hiredNew officers: closed right now. Time to hire: 6 to 12 months.Applicant Score: 35 of 100Ranked 8 of 11 departments on pay, local income, turnover and hiring speed.

Two official Port sources disagree on trainee pay ($95,368 on the recruiting page, $89,128 on an older posting). The recruiting page figure is shown.

The stated 6 to 12 months covers the background investigation only, so it is not directly comparable to another department's whole-process figure.

Sources, checked Nov 13, 2026: Port recruiting page · Trainee posting · 2025 use of force report · Union job page (bonus) · Port board update, Aug 11, 2026 · California DOJ stop data, 2024

Colors and logo from portofsandiego.org. The Port's Gotham typeface is licensed, so a system font is used.

Photo: North San Diego Bay, looking toward Coronado. Aerial - looking across North San Diego Bay to Coronado 03.jpg by Joe Mabel, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and tinted.

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