When Keisha Llarenas pinned on her badge with the Coronado Police Department in September, it marked the beginning of new contracts signed between the city and its law enforcement officers.
The new labor agreement, which increased salaries and benefits for officers, helped the department stay competitive. And Llarenas, a 9-year officer who previously worked for the California Department of Insurance Fraud Division, became one of two new officers brought on board following the agreement.
For Llarenas, the timing and the location felt right.
I only applied for Coronado.Police Officer Keisha Llarenas
“I only applied for Coronado,” Llarenas told The Coronado News. “I have a bunch of friends that work here … There’s a lot of room for growth because so many people are retiring.”
Llarenas, 35, grew up in Guam but moved to the mainland in 1994. She got her bachelor’s degree from Cal State San Marcos in criminal justice studies. She said there was a “blink in time” where she was working full time in business marketing but she knew she wouldn’t be there long.
She ended up quitting her job and attending Southwestern Police Academy where she completed a 10-month training program. Straight out of the academy, Llarenas went to work for a police department up in Northern California before moving to her state job.
Before coming to Coronado, Llarenas spent eight years working in white-collar crime investigations for the state as an auto-theft expert. That skill has already come in handy on the island where she said e-bike thefts are the most common.
Llarenas said the expertise she developed working auto-theft cases translates naturally to her new role, but she’s also hoping to learn new skills.
“I just was looking for more room for growth, and more room to, kind of, maneuver through different roles,” Llarenas said. “Where I was at, I think the only thing left for me to really do is to promote, and I’m not ready to do that yet.”
She could have been promoted to detective sergeant at her state job, moving more into administrative duties and paperwork, she explained, adding that she is not ready for an office role because, “I love being more hands on.”
Llarenas knew she wanted to be a cop because of her father, who served in the U.S. Navy and completed an assignment as military police.
I remember him having the patrol car and the uniform … I knew ultimately that I wanted to be a cop.
Police Officer Keisha Llarenas
“I remember him having the patrol car and the uniform,” she said. “I knew ultimately that I wanted to be a cop.”
Now, she’s the one in uniform, learning the unique rhythms of policing a small community. Since starting in Coronado, Llarenas has been settling into patrol work, getting to know the streets, her colleagues and the people who call the city home.
“I pretty much know everybody here and I’ve only been here for three months,” Llarenas said. “The sergeants … the lieutenants … and our captain and our police chief, they all know everybody by first name which is so cool.
”Just makes it more family oriented,” she added.
And the community of Coronado is important to her as a cop as well.
The people that live here are super supportive of the police department. I wanted to find a home for me that I would be giving back more to the community.
“The people that live here are super supportive of the police department,” she said. “I wanted to find a home for me that I would be giving back more to the community.”
Llarenas feels like the best part of her job is having conversations with folks in the community, and being relatable.
“Having that empathy and remembering people have feelings,” she explained. “For me, I like to remember to bring it down to being normal, being friendly, being outgoing.
“When people see me, I want them to respect me not because of my badge or because I’m a police officer. I want them to know me as, ‘Hey, she was cool. She respected me, I respected her,’” Llarenas said.
