Chief Jon D. Zeliff was born in San Jose, California, in 1959. As a boy, he made regular trips to the Southern Oregon area on family outings. In 1966 his mother and father were in search of a healthier setting to raise their children, and they moved the family to a small farm in rural Grants Pass. He attended local schools, and properly learned the value of strong character and untarnished integrity through the positive teachings of his parents.

While attending criminal justice courses at Rogue Community College in 1979, Chief Zeliff met his bride to be, Laura, who is also a veteran Police Officer and Division Commander with another local police agency. Chief Zeliff and his wife Laura recently celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary, and have two grown sons, Damon and Jacob. Chief Zeliff and his wife are the proud grandparents of Jacqueline, Jaxon and Jamison. Chief Zeliff and his wife especially love spending time with family, which certainly includes the thorough "spoiling" of their much-loved grandchildren.

Chief Zeliff began his policing career in 1984 as a Reserve Police Officer for the Grants Pass Police Department, later achieving the rank of Reserve Sergeant.  He was hired full time by the City of Grants Pass in July of 1986, and went on to be elected vice-president of his Basic Police Academy Class.  Prior to being selected as Chief of the Central Point Police Department in July of 2004, Chief Zeliff served as the Support and Patrol Bureau Commanders for the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety.

Chief Zeliff has a lengthy and wide-ranging background in public service, having served in a number of diverse policing assignments to include; Patrol Officer, Survival Skills Instructor, Narcotics Detective, Field Training Officer, Patrol Corporal, Patrol Sergeant, Detective Sergeant/Child Abuse Investigator, S.W.A.T. Team member, Team Commander, and Public Safety Lieutenant. Chief Zeliff is also an experienced professional ethics trainer, providing instruction on the necessity for unimpeachable character and integrity to public safety professionals throughout the Pacific Northwest, to include the 2006 Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference.

In addition to other notable training on ethics, Chief Zeliff has completed both the "Basic" and "Advanced" week long "Ethics-Train-the-Trainer" courses offered by the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration, Center for Law Enforcement Ethics in Plano, Texas. Chief Zeliff has also attended the two-day ethics seminar entitled; "Honoring the Badge: Ethical Issues for Peace Officers and Administrators" presented by the esteemed Josephson Institute of Ethics, in Los Angeles, California, and has recently been chosen to become a faculty member of the Josephson Institute as a “Master Trainer” for “Honoring the Badge” seminars presented to law enforcement administrators nationwide.

Chief Zeliff has an Associate of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from Rogue Community College, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Management from Northwest Christian College, has completed the Fire Service Administrators Institute, and is a graduate of the Oregon Executive Development Institute. Chief Zeliff is the Oregon Chapter Director for the International Association of Ethics Trainers, and is a member of the Center for Law Enforcement Ethics at the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration, the Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Chief Zeliff has an Executive Certificate from the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, is "cross-trained" as a structural firefighter, and will soon begin work on a Masters Degree in Public Administration.