Butch Arnoldi, Legend of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, Is Retiring

When Lieutenant Ugo Peter “Butch” Arnoldi appeared Tuesday before the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors to be honored for his upcoming retirement, Supervisor Roy Lee opened with a confession. “Butch, I thought this day would never come,” Lee said. It was an understandable assumption. Arnoldi joined the Sheriff’s Office when Richard Nixon was president and gasoline was less than 50 cents a gallon. 

Now, after more than 53 years with the same agency, Arnoldi will step away as one of the longest-serving employees in Santa Barbara County history, possibly the longest of them all. “And you know, I don’t think there could have been anyone better than you,” said Board Chair Bob Nelson. Arnoldi had another way to measure just how far back his service goes. “I believe I’m the last one left with a three-digit badge number,” he chuckled.

Over the course of his career, Arnoldi worked under five different Sheriffs, serving as a corrections officer, patrol deputy, field training officer, detective, station commander, watch commander, police chief, and sheriff’s adjutant. He became a familiar face in communities across the county, from Carpinteria up to Santa Maria, and developed a reputation as a blunt but beloved old-school lawman who was intensely involved in the places he policed.

Arnoldi’s years in Isla Vista placed him at the center of one of the county’s most volatile jurisdictions. As commander of the Isla Vista Foot Patrol, he advocated for proactive enforcement meant to keep smaller problems from escalating. He made himself accessible to students and was credited with bringing a measure of stability to the densely populated college town.

Arnoldi was also repeatedly called upon when the county suffered a disaster. He worked fires, floods, debris flows, and mass-casualty incidents. He won the H. Thomas Guerry Award, the highest honor given to Santa Barbara peace officers, twice. And he spent his off hours lending a hand to the Special Olympics and Red Cross.

“Butch’s legacy is not defined only by the years that he served, but by the heart that he brought to his work, the mentorship that he offered to generations of deputy sheriffs, and the compassion that he showed to the people of this county when they were in need,” Sheriff Bill Brown said. “His career embodies public service at its very best.” 

Brown remarked how the Sheriff’s Office has become something of an Arnoldi family business ― Butch’s wife of nearly 44 years, Marla, recently completed a 28-year career as an administrative office professional. Their son, Giuseppe, is a custody deputy, and their daughter, Francesca, is a patrol deputy. “His legacy continues,” said Brown.

When it was his turn to speak, Arnoldi choked back tears to thank his grandparents, parents, sister, wife, children, and extended family for their encouragement and sacrifice and, most of all, “for sharing me with the Sheriff’s Office and the public we proudly serve on a daily basis.”

Arnoldi spoke about the many jobs he’d held but devoted the heart of his remarks to the people of Santa Barbara County. “It is I that should be thanking each of you for not only supporting me all these years, but for entrusting me to care for you, watch over you, and comfort you in your time of need,” he said. “Thank you everyone in the audience, all my fellow coworkers of all ranks and classifications, and most of all, may God bless you.”