Chula Vista's assistant police chief dies after short battle with rare cancer

Chula Vista Assistant Police Chief Phil Collum, a 29-year veteran of the department, died Friday following a cancer battle.

“It is with tremendous sorrow that Chief Roxana Kennedy announces the loss of her second in command and close friend,” the department said in a news release Saturday evening.

The department said Collum’s death followed “his short battle with a rare form of cancer. He was surrounded by family and friends, including his loving husband, William Lopez.”

Police did not specify what type of cancer Collum had nor how long he had been fighting it.

In announcing his death, the department hailed Collum as “a true trailblazer,” noting he had been tapped as the department’s first Black lieutenant in 2009, first Black captain in 2018, and first Black assistant chief in 2022. He was also the first openly gay male officer in the department.

Born in Alexandria, Virginia, he moved to San Diego as a toddler and moved from the region to attend college in Santa Cruz. His law enforcement career started there in 1990, when he worked as a community service officer while attending college. He went on to join the Santa Cruz Police Department before moving back to the San Diego area in 1994. Before that year was up, he had joined the Chula Vista Police Department.

“Collum was recognized from the beginning as an extremely intelligent leader and hard worker. He developed a reputation of fairness and ethical professionalism that helped him rise through the ranks,” the department said.

During his career in Chula Vista, Collum served as the highest official overseeing every sworn division within the department. And at Collum’s direction, the department created — and he led — the Community Engagement Division in 2022.

He received several civic awards. Among his most recent honors: The California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus named him as a 2023 Pride Honoree. He was also named one of the 2023 Persons of the Year by LGBTQ San Diego County News.

Chula Vista police said Collum and his husband went to Tijuana every month to support orphanages as part of the Corazón de Vida Foundation. In honor of Collum’s memory, his family requested that, in lieu of flowers, contributions to the Phillip Collum Scholarship Fund, established in partnership with Corazon De Vida.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.

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