That’s what outgoing Southwest Precinct commander Capt. Joe Kessler told his team around noontime today as the precinct held an informal drop-in farewell reception. In our video, you see him with Lt. Von Levandowski and new commander Capt. Steve Paulsen. Like most office farewells, it was a time for handshakes and hugs – and cake…

(The SW logo is the same as the one on the new pins that we mentioned in our report two weeks ago on the command transition.) There was also a gift:

On the shirt sleeve, it says Precinct #1, in honor of the West Precinct that Capt. Kessler is about to take over (as announced two weeks ago) – headquartered downtown, but covering a wide span of the city, including Magnolia, Queen Anne, downtown, even the stadiums. Also on hand for today’s sendoff, Precinct Advisory Committee chair Pete Spalding of Pigeon Point:

It was roll-call time just before the event, so officers came and went – among those we saw, Sgt. Tony Baily, hailed last Friday by SPD leadership for calmly taking charge of the chaotic situation at the 14th SW murder-suicide scene a day earlier – he’s at left in this photo with Community Police Team Officer Kevin McDaniel:

The official transition day is this Friday – but the two captains already have been spending some time at their new posts. Capt. Kessler has led the SWP for almost two and a half years; Capt. Paulsen returns after 9 months working downtown, which followed more than four years at the SWP, where he was the Operations Lieutenant – second in command – before his move in January.