Canby chief ‘honored’ by call to leadership

By Raymond Rendleman, The Canby Chronicle

How many people who grew up in Caracas, Venezuela can say that they have become a police chief in the United States? Interim Police Chief Jose Gonzalez said he was blessed to be the U.S. citizen that Canby’s city manager has tasked with leading our city’s law-enforcement efforts. “I feel honored and lucky to be part of the U.S. and my adopted country,” he said.

It’s not unheard of for Latin American immigrants to become police chiefs in the U.S., but it’s rare, and Gonzalez might be the only one from Venezuela. In California, Santa Ana Police Chief Robert Rodriguez originally immigrated from Mexico. In Rhode Island, Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez, hailing from Medellin, Colombia, migrated to the U.S. at the age of 13.

Gonzalez is unique in many other ways besides his birthplace. He had enlisted in the Venezuelan military when he developed an interest in being able to communicate more easily with the American military personnel with whom he was working. “At that time, we had a good political relationship with the U.S.,” he said.

Through a military visa, Gonzalez first arrived in Miami to learn English. But the city about 230 miles from Havana has so many Spanish speakers, he found it difficult to focus on learning English. Gonzalez’s solution to getting away from other Spanish speakers? He took out a map of the U.S. and looked for a non-border state in the middle of the country, where he figured there would be many fewer Spanish speakers. Right above Texas, in the middle of the U.S., was his answer: Oklahoma. 

Gonzalez ended up getting his associate’s degree in business management from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, where he built up his English skills. His dream at this point was to open up his own restaurant, so he came to Portland to attend the Western Culinary Institute and earn his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Portland State University in 1994. 

Gonzalez says it’s a “funny story” as to why never opened his own restaurant in Oregon, where he met his future wife and resolved to stay. At the time, his wife had a friend who was married to a police officer from Tualatin. (The two couples are still friends, but the friend’s husband is no longer working for the Tualatin Police Department).

His Tualatin police friend encouraged him to apply to become a police officer, pointing out that the Tualatin Municipal Court needed his translation services. What started out as a way to make money outside of restaurant jobs soon became an entrée into working more closely with police departments. It was definitely against the odds that he would become an officer, since he was often competing against hundreds of other applicants for one police position. “I never thought that my bilingual skills could give me a leg up in applying to become a police officer, but for me it was a fun challenge, and I was surprised that it worked out,” he said.

Gonzalez was first hired in 1996 as an officer by the Canby Police Department, where he worked for two years prior to spending 21 years of his career at the Portland Police Bureau. At the time he applied for the job in Portland, his wife was pregnant with their third child, and PPB was offering a higher rate of pay, along with more overtime opportunities that would support their growing family.

Gonzalez worked his way up the ranks in Portland, getting promoted to sergeant in 2004. He said that he didn’t seek out police leadership positions initially; PPB required all officers in good standing to test for sergeant positions. He scored in the top third among 40 officers who were given a written test, a series of interviews, and a scenario process to accumulate points.

Throughout his time in Portland, Gonzalez never stopped loving Canby. Since he lives only 15 minutes from Canby city limits, it was easy for him to come back annually for the county fair. He also enjoyed visiting Canby on a regular basis in civilian clothes to hang out with friends here. “Canby is a pretty neat town and very welcoming, so I always feel blessed and at home here,” he said. 

In 2019, the Canby Police Department was looking to hire a lieutenant, and Gonzalez was looking to return to Canby permanently, so it was the perfect fit. Former Canby Chief Jorge Tro and Gonzalez were hired at the same time, so they felt like they were working together again as peers when they both ended up in police leadership together. Gonzalez became police captain in a lateral move in 2021, overseeing Canby’s Investigations Unit, Code Enforcement, and Evidence Unit, task force partnerships, and Internal Affairs. Gonzalez said that, besides Tro, he returned to many other partnerships that he had developed in Canby. “It was a good opportunity to come back to some good working relationships,” he said.

When Tro retired, Gonzalez took over the police department’s top leadership position. Appointed as acting chief on July 10, 2026, Gonzalez was later named interim chief by the city administrator. “It is an honor to serve the Canby community alongside the exceptional men and women of this department,” he said.