Regarding the replacement of Police Chief Sanchez, it is hoped the City Council will select a replacement who fully understands the city’s public safety, crime, and policing problems. The gang and gang-violence problems. The drug and drug-dealing problems. The neighborhood breaking-and-entering and theft problems. The downtown problem with late night and early morning bar drunks. The drunk-driver problem. The transient and professional panhandling problem. The graffiti problem. And the negative perceived police leadership problem. It is hoped that someone in the present police ranks would be a good candidate for the chief position, a party who fully understands Santa Barbara and its police needs. Hey, it would save the granting of a $500,000 home-purchase assistance loan.
