First Santa Barbara Police Oversight Report Released

In 2023 — the first year of operation for the city’s hybridized police review board — 26 complaints were filed against officers with the Santa Barbara Police Department (SBPD): 20 of those from members of the public and six from inside the department. Of these complaints, eight were sustained. Of those, one of the eight resulted in the termination of an officer, one led to a demotion, two led to unpaid suspensions, one led to a written reprimand, and three resulted in corrective counseling. That, at least, is the bare-bones bottom line of a 52-page report submitted to the city’s Fire and Police Commission late last week, the first police oversight report yet to be issued for the City of Santa Barbara. 

The report emerged out of a reconstituted Fire and Police Commission, one imbued with new and expanded oversight responsibilities in direct response to the political pressure brought to bear by Healing Justice in reaction to Minneapolis police officers’ murder of George Floyd, a Black man detained on suspicion of passing counterfeit bills. The creation of the Police Oversight Formation Commission — charged with determining the oversight model that best fit Santa Barbara’s needs — had been the focus of major community debate. Thousands of hours were spent hashing the issues out, and not everyone involved was happy the new oversight responsibilities were folded into the Fire and Police Commission, arguing instead for a commission focused exclusively on police oversight. Conversely, the council heard from members of the community who argued the commission was a solution to a problem that didn’t exist in Santa Barbara. 

In the years since Floyd’s murder, public focus has shifted. At the unveiling of last week’s report, not one member of the public commented.

Commissioner Lizzie Rodriguez called the report “a milestone.” Santa Barbara Police Chief Kelly Gordon — who both inherited and embraced the new and at-times controversial initiative — expressed pride at having “an excellent department” to lead, adding, “The low number of complaints you’re going to see today is not by accident.” 

Chief Gordon provided detailed statistics on all the different interactions involving Santa Barbara officers, concluding that in 99.96 percent of the cases, there were no complaints. In response to questions by Commissioner Aaron Jones, Gordon explained that terminations resulted when the behavior involved was deemed to be egregious or part of a pattern of behavior that was egregious. Details were not released on specific cases, but in broad terms, Gordon said six complaints involved allegations of biased conduct, five involved rude or discourteous behavior, nine involved unsatisfactory work product, two involved excessive force, one involved a supervisor’s failure to report, one was for accessing police records for unauthorized purposes, one was for insubordination, and one was for retaliation.

The report will be heard by the City Council.