Daniel Acosta still remembers one of the last things his grandmother told him before she died when she learned he wanted to become a police officer.

“Be one of the good ones.”

Her advice followed Acosta through his 41 years in law enforcement and now as he prepares to retire this spring as chief of police of the Foothill–De Anza Police Department.

Born in Colusa, California to Mexican immigrants, Acosta was raised in San Jose and graduated from San Jose State University.

His interest in law enforcement began in the third grade when police officers visited his classroom.

“I was an associate engineer and it was not what I thought it was,” Acosta said about his early career change. “Helping people just seemed natural for me, and I enjoyed it.”

The San Jose Police Department hired Acosta in 1985 and worked for 29 years in different units including sexual assaults investigations.

Acosta mostly investigated child molestation cases and they were the hardest.

“It was really, really difficult to see a child that’s gone through something traumatic,” Acosta said. “But those that had to testify, and did testify, grew to be my heroes.”

Acosta also recalled a time he and his partner entered a burning building in an attempt to save an elderly woman trapped inside.

“We got there and a woman about the age of our moms came running up … she said, ‘my mom’s still in there,’ so we ran in,” Acosta said. “

His partner remained outside, holding onto Acosta as he crawled inside to search for her.

“I was scared and I missed her, I couldn’t find her,” Acosta said. “Apparently, I missed her by one or two feet. The firefighters only found her because one of them stepped on her,” Acosta said.

The woman did not survive, but Acosta said her daughter later thanked him and his partner for trying.

Acosta joined FHDA police in 2014 as assistant chief of police and in 2019, was sworn in as chief of police by the board of trustees and an Aztec dance performance by his daughter at Foothill College.

After joining De Anza, Acosta said he began to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. He worked through his PTSD with conversations with another officer on campus with similar experiences and with a campus psychiatrist.

Acosta said leading a community college police department required an approach rooted in training, communication and trust. In 2019 the force created the Police Chief’s Advisory Committee to bring faculty, staff and community members into regular dialogue with campus police.

“If you want police officers to respond in an emergency … You have to substitute that lack of experience with training,” Acosta about his priority to expand FHDA police training.

Acosta said expanding officer training became one of his top priorities at Foothill–De Anza, leading to the creation of the Police Chief’s Advisory Committee in 2019 to bring faculty, staff and community members into regular dialogue with campus police.

“That was hard to listen to,” Acosta said about the first PCAC board meetings. “But listen we did.”

​​Joy Garza, training and community relations supervisor for the Foothill–De Anza Police Department, worked with Acosta for nearly 5 years and said his leadership helped build trust and community relationships across the district.

“One of the qualities I have most admired in his leadership is the value he places on family and integrity,” Garza wrote in an email statement. “It has helped us all recognize that our responsibilities and lasting impact extend beyond the job.”

Vice Chancellor of Instruction Ram Subramaniam said Acosta played a strong role in building trust with campus police.

“He’s paved the way for a very compassionate security system here at our district,” Subramaniam said. “He’s been a major source of support and he will be dearly missed.”

Acosta said he is looking forward to focusing on his health and returning to running regularly which has always brought him peace.

He still thinks about the advice his grandmother gave him that guided his career from the beginning.

“I always remember her holding up her finger and telling me to be ‘one of the good ones,’” Acosta said. “I hope I made her proud.”