Nov 22, 2022
Fire Chief Engler & Chief Teresa Ewins
Police/Fire Chiefs Joint
Chief Engler started his career as a professional firefighter in 1994 with the Kansas City, Kansas Fire Department.  In 1996, he accepted a position as Firefighter/Paramedic with Lincoln Fire & Rescue where he has been for the last 26 years. 
 
In 2006, he was promoted to Fire Captain and then promoted to Battalion Chief in 2018.  In 2020 he was appointed by Mayor Gaylor Baird to serve as the Acting Fire Chief and then was appointed to the Fire Chief position in April of 2021.
 
Chief Engler earned a Master of Science from Creighton University.  He is licensed as a Nebraska Paramedic, is a Society of Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP), Professional in Human Resources (PHR) through the Human Resource Certification Institute, and received his Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Designation through the Center for Public Safety Excellence (CPSE).
 
In August 2021, Chief Ewins took over the post of Lincoln Police Chief. She is the first-ever female police chief in the city of Lincoln. 
 
Chief Teresa Ewins was born in Santa Monica, California and has spent the majority of her life in Northern California in the Bay Area. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice, has completed the FBI National Academy; Harvard Kennedy School’s State and Local Government; and the Police Executive Research Forum’s (PERF) Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP). 
 
Chief Teresa Ewins was a Commander with the San Francisco Police Department. Over the course of her 26-year policing career, she has served in the Field Operations Bureau, Investigations Bureau, and Special Operations Bureau (Homeland Security and Tactical Company). In her past role as Commander of Field Operations Bureau-Metro Division, Teresa oversees 5 of the 10 District Stations in the downtown area with approximately 900 sworn members. Chief Ewins gained an added layer of experience in operationalizing 21st Century and community-focused policing principles as she led SFPD’s work to develop policy to minimize bias in policing with the Department of Justice Collaborative Reform Initiative.
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