Chula Vista police Chief Roxana Kennedy on Saturday announced the loss of her second in command, Assistant Chief Phil Collum.
He died Friday evening after a short battle with a rare form of cancer, the Chula Vista Police Department said in a news release. He was surrounded by family and friends, including his husband, William Lopez.
Collum, or Phil as many knew him, began his law enforcement career in 1990 as a community service officer in Santa Cruz while attending college. He became a police officer for the Santa Cruz Police Department, but moved back to the San Diego region in 1994. He joined the CVPD in October of that year.
He ended up dedicating over 29 years of service to the department and his community.
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 from officer to agent to sergeant.
He became the department’s first Black lieutenant in 2009, captain in 2018 and assistant chief in 2022.
Collum also directed the department to create an entire division focused on community engagement, which he would personally lead. The Community Engagement Division was established in 2022 thanks to his leadership.
In a 2021 interview with the LGBTQ San Diego County News, when asked what excited him most, he said, “I find excitement in being part of a team making positive change for my community and for those around me.”
Collum was a graduate of California’s prestigious Command College and the FBI National Academy. Additionally, he was the liaison for the United Way, a board member for the California Peace Officers Association and considered instrumental in repairing relationships that allowed San Diego County law enforcement to again participate in San Diego Pride events.
He was born in Alexandria, Va., and moved to San Diego as a toddler, only leaving the area Diego for a short time to attend college. He met Lopez in 2008; they were married in 2013.
A memorial service will be held at Eastlake Church, 2355 Otay Lakes Road, at 10 a.m. April 20.
Collum’s family kindly requests that in lieu of flowers, contributions be sent to the Phillip Collum Scholarship Fund, established in partnership with Corazon De Vida, an organization dedicated to supporting orphaned and abandoned children in Baja California.
