Five Complaints Filed Against Santa Barbara City Cops — Four from Other Officers

It was a good news fest at the city’s Fire and Police Commission hearing last week, with only five complaints filed against city police officers between April and June this year; four of those originated from personnel inside the department and only one came from the outside. 

Given that the complaints are still under review, commissioners got only a cursory description of their nature. One had to do with behavior said to be discourteous and potentially discriminatory to a member of the community. 

Commissioner Lyz Rodriguez exclaimed, “When I see these numbers, I am relieved.” Not only were they very small, she said, but that the majority were generated internally, she added, indicated those in the department do not fear retaliation for speaking out.

Commissioner Aaron Jones suggested the low numbers might also indicate people are not sure where or how to file complaints. 

Commander Charles Katsapis informed the commissioners that from the first quarter to the second, violent crime increased 12 percent while property crime and vehicle theft dropped 11 and 17 percent, respectively. Katsapis said the rise in violent crime reflected a surge in alcohol-fueled aggravated assaults during spring break. 

The big change, he said, was the 87 percent increase in parking citations, reflecting the filling of long-vacant key positions. In the past year, the number of vacancies for sworn officers dropped from 27 positions to 15; for professional staff, the number dropped from 23 to 10. 

Chief Kelly Gordon detailed the department’s efforts to attract recruits who’d be a good fit for Santa Barbara. “I don’t want them to just want to be a police officer,” she said. “I want them to want to be a Santa Barbara police officer.” 

Gordon said the department lacked the financial resources to offer $100,000 signing bonuses that some departments are doing but doubted that such largesse paid off in the long term. Instead, she said, she emphasizes the culture of the department when recruiting. 

Another big change Chief Kelly Gordon noted was the rapid jump in mental-health-related co-response calls made in the second quarter, which jumped from the first quarter by 400 responses. This is happening because she now has two officers assigned to the co-response beat, teaming each up with a county mental-health case worker. In addition, the department’s co-response teams are now on patrol seven days a week. Before, it was five. Co-response is one of the more successful strategies embraced throughout Santa Barbara to get people experiencing a mental health crisis the care they need in the moment rather than time in the county jail.