Pete Dunbar started with the Oakland Police Department in 1982. He served in a variety of assignments and positions in Patrol, Investigations and Training. In 1999, he was appointed as a Deputy Chief, where he was assigned to Field Operations and Services. In February of 2006, he was appointed as Chief of Police of the Pleasant Hill Police Department and retired as Chief on September 28, 2012. On October 8, 2012, he was appointed as the Director of the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) where he worked until November of 2014. He received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Performance for his work while at POST and facilitated the creation of the first-ever Strategic Plan for Colorado POST. Dunbar received a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce from the University of Santa Clara in 1982. He received a Master of Arts Degree in Education from San Diego State University in 2002.
Chief Dunbar began teaching Strategic and Succession Planning in the POST Management Course in 2005 for the Government Training Center (formerly the San Diego Regional Training Center). He has been an instructor in the topics of Ethics, Leadership, Crisis Management, and Strategic and Succession Planning for the California Police Chiefs Association (CPCA). He has consulted and facilitated the development of strategic and succession planning with several departments, including Huntington Beach, Cypress, Menlo Park, Hollister, and the Grass Valley Police Departments.
Chief Dunbar had provided mentoring and counseling to many current chiefs and command staff in the areas of leadership, crisis management, team building, planning, and preparing to become a chief.