Stockton Deputy Police Chief Kathryn Nance in running to lead Reno Police Department

Aaron Leathley, The Record
·2 min read
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Stockton Police deputy chief Kathryn Nance answered questions as one of four candidates for Stockton Police chief, during a town hall meeting at the Bob Hope Theatre in downtown Stockton.
Stockton Police deputy chief Kathryn Nance answered questions as one of four candidates for Stockton Police chief, during a town hall meeting at the Bob Hope Theatre in downtown Stockton.

Stockton's second-ever female deputy police chief is among the two finalists to lead the Reno Police Department, the Reno Gazette Journal reported.

Deputy Chief Kathryn Nance and Sparks, Nevada Chief of Police Christopher Crawford, are the two being considered for Reno's top police position that is advertised to pay between $208,492 to $260,624, the Journal reported. If selected, Nance would be Reno's first female police chief.

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Earlier this year, Nance was one of four finalists to succeed Eric Jones as Stockton's police chief. Stan McFadden, then a San Jose Police Department deputy chief was selected for the job.

Nance joined the Stockton Police Department in 1996, serving as a patrol officer, field training officer, homicide detective and gang detective. She was promoted to sergeant in 2011 and led the Community Response Team and Gang Street Enforcement Team among other forces.

Deputy Chiefs Kathryn Nance.
Deputy Chiefs Kathryn Nance.

In 2016, Nance was promoted again to lieutenant and led the Special Investigations Unit, FBI Task Force, Critical Incident Investigations and several other teams. She became commander of the Special Operations Division in 2019 and Deputy Chief in charge of the Logistics Bureau and Fiscal Affairs Division.

Outside of her department roles, Nance also led the Stockton Police Officers Association and ran as a Republican to unseat former U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney of California's 9th Congressional district in 2016. Nance's platform included ending federal funding to "sanctuary cities" and ending the Affordable Care Act, according to Ballotopedia.

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During Nance's campaign, she faced questioning from the then-vice president of the police union about whether her candidacy conflicted with her role as president. Nance said she would not participate in union discussions about political endorsements. She lost in the primaries to McNerney and Republican Antonio Amador.

As Nance's policing career reached new heights, her family was struck by hardship: James Nance, her husband, a Stockton Police Department motorcycle officer, was involved in a crash in 2018 that left him seriously injured and unable to walk. The crash came just a week after Nance had applied to become a captain.

Nearly a year later, Nance was promoted to captain.

“Achieving the rank of police captain, she absolutely has an immense amount of credibility within the Police Department,” then-Chief Eric Jones said at her promotion ceremony.

Record reporter Aaron Leathley covers public safety. She can be reached at aleathley@recordnet.com or on Twitter @LeathleyAaron. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton deputy chief could be 1st woman to lead Reno Police Department