The South Bay is saying goodbye to Joseph McNamara, the former San Jose police chief who revolutionized police work.
The department held a memorial on Thursday in honor of McNamara at San Jose's California Theatre.
McNamara was a Hoover Fellow since retiring from the force. He died last week of cancer.
McNamara was chief between 1976 and 1991. He’s remembered as the one who got police officers to get out of their patrol cars and walk their beats. The idea was to get to know their community better.
“It's the expectation of professionalism,” Redwood City Police Chief Jr. Gamez said. “I remember as a rookie officer and there was that expectation just to be great.”
Former Mayor Tom McEnery said McNamara often led one-way conversations when debating an issue with city leaders.
Twenty-eight current and former chiefs across the country got their training from McNamara and the San Jose Police Department.
