Lower than 4 years into his tenure, Santa Monica’s first-ever Latino police chief, Ramón Batista, has introduced his resignation from a division by which he oversaw a drop in crime and elevated police hiring.
Batista hinted at a possible conflict with metropolis leaders in a letter on Friday to the town supervisor, Oliver Chi.
“My almost 40 years of expertise in public security and policing, my deeply held sense of justice, and following not solely the spirit, however the letter of the regulation, look like at odds from calls for set by the brand new administration,” he wrote.
“In that mild, the suitable path is to transition management right here, as I look ahead with function, conviction, and optimism to my subsequent problem.”
Batista mentioned in his letter that his final day can be Oct. 4, precisely two weeks earlier than his fourth anniversary of being sworn in as Santa Monica’s 18th police chief over its 128 years.
Batista and Santa Monica officers didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Chi, who obtained Batista’s letter, mentioned in a press release he was grateful for the chief’s “many contributions.”
“His dedication, kindness and imaginative and prescient have formed our police division in constructive methods, and on behalf of the complete group, we honor and thank him for his service,” Chi mentioned.
The town supervisor additionally famous that Santa Monica Deputy Chief Darrick Jacob would function performing police chief.
Chi mentioned Jacob had served the division for greater than 20 years, with tasks together with overseeing day by day operations.
“I’m supremely assured that our employees, the police division, and the complete group can be effectively served by Appearing Chief Jacob,” Chi mentioned.
Chi didn’t lay out a course of or a timeline for locating a everlasting alternative.
A name to the Santa Monica Police Officers Assn., which endorsed Batista’s hiring, was not returned.
Batista claims just a few victories in his resignation letter, together with serving to rebuild morale after Santa Monica endured a chaotic protest in Might 2020 by which a whole bunch had been arrested within the wake of the dying of George Floyd.
In Might 2021, an out of doors analyst employed by the town discovered a number of shortcomings within the division’s response to the protest. Though nobody died, the OIR Group discovered that widespread “vandalism and property harm, the losses to enterprise and the divisive dealing with of protesters” in the end undermined the “confidence in individuals’s fundamental safety.”
OIR made 44 suggestions to the town, together with addressing the division’s excessive turnover fee and never counting on extra time as a repair for low staffing. The report additionally criticized an absence of planning within the lead-up to the protest.
“Throughout that interval, morale was low, many officers had been sidelined because of accidents, and the division was stretched skinny,” he wrote.
Batista mentioned in his letter that the division had 177 working cops when he took over in October 2021. He mentioned that quantity had been bumped as much as 231.
A part of what made Batista a pretty prospect for Santa Monica in the summertime of 2021 was his capacity to battle crime.
By the top of his 2½-year run because the police chief of Mesa, Ariz., his division had lowered Half I crimes to a metropolis all-time low of 23 occasions per 1,000 residents.
Half I crimes, in accordance with the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, seek advice from eight particular classes of significant offenses: legal murder (homicide and non-negligent manslaughter), rape, theft, aggravated assault, housebreaking, larceny-theft, motorized vehicle theft and arson.
In 2024, the division recorded 50,000 proactive contacts with residents and companies whereas responding to 128,000 service calls, in accordance with Batista.
He mentioned his division made 2,800 arrests, which led to a 2% discount in Half I crimes.
“I depart assured that the division is stronger, extra fashionable, and extra related to the group than after I arrived,” he mentioned.
