[{"_1":2,"_111":-5,"_112":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6592656,"mediaKeyId","2804407-99f9fdc7bf01f1c812ad4bbf58da3333","parentId",2804407,"title","Police commission approves minutes from Feb. 27, 2025","audioSeconds",90,"startMs",482000,"endMs",572000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2804407-99f9fdc7bf01f1c812ad4bbf58da3333&start=482&end=572","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2804407-99f9fdc7bf01f1c812ad4bbf58da3333/thumbnail_482000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6592656/Santa-Barbara-City/Santa-Barbara-County/California/Police-commission-approves-minutes-from-Feb-27-2025","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6592656-edd5f9fb862b14bff5a25827b1bafb3f/orig.mp4?Expires=1770886105&Signature=OwHHoWfRRrY7eK6G-1JqGXxk9jhg3SOl2UTLE1ECudlEDJt~bHL8RrPvYjdE8WizHrZYmzCNuliirfRcVhfbpChFvoOyBnUbeluSBNrjbadSGNB0NBT7AHZkNII-Pn-A01xXgb7rAKYHrVLIpqVS1DCh184gY-beClNmVZ874jzEvGKL4bE9dvcxGzy~5UX5UCA4oHjjrvr9LPtatJmjObnygzSOOQ~XMhTjU1SDMicDejd41WDgtkr4fDxsnU0Y3VCFqjTxUv4u-DCqfYuluwtFS5sanqGVcIUvHyABsOvdoAjIy2F0bnJk31S9kzfMlT1AHLT~KLsfiDVlct1p0A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City Council of Santa Barbara, CA","date","2025-03-28T01:35:50.04Z","article","The Santa Barbara Police Commission approved the minutes from its Feb. 27, 2025 meeting.

A commissioner asked for a motion to approve the minutes. One participant said, \"Move for approval.\" Another responded, \"Second.\" The chair called for a vote and the motion passed. The transcript does not record the names of the mover and seconder or a roll-call tally.

No amendments to the minutes were proposed during the meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Fire and Police Commission - March 27. 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The commission moved to approve the meeting minutes from Feb. 27, 2025; the motion passed. No further details or roll-call tally were provided in the transcript.","taxTitle","Santa Barbara City, Santa Barbara County, California","taxId",4209,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6592661,"Santa Barbara Fire Department outlines prevention work, defensible-space and hoarding response",360,3600000,3960000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2804407-99f9fdc7bf01f1c812ad4bbf58da3333&start=3600&end=3960","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2804407-99f9fdc7bf01f1c812ad4bbf58da3333/thumbnail_3600000.jpg","/articles/6592661/Santa-Barbara-City/Santa-Barbara-County/California/Santa-Barbara-Fire-Department-outlines-prevention-work-defensible-space-and-hoarding-response","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6592661-f8be0b9a8080b2afac5632a4fe674a2a/orig.mp4?Expires=1770886105&Signature=WBx4fEuz6ia34-OLyEAJKYKS6X59FueA9ptIkMQTdACzKQBKXLiGdX7ihlqUAysLlPihGIB2IwlOuQ61Ayo5EjDNg-IxDHpr6IpbFuDuIdRewZXBTBH2mpzwZ~~rCRw4Q2Rm8PQLFt2u5M6OkPL4INKJwmgo-6-aapRtTCOtW9asEpy9FstAlEsrino~udxbXfo6-7KJjJzS~TI8dauGsjNxA1QLKSmNrTAOlkMegjXUngW0qxq9hQuZpjNKxJjZHEo5PtqeGUfapB7fdtc5PMRR6n8zhuYcpnNlB6lHCmI3-Fck0QkMoAYES5NagBE3v14JGvPi9ZvkjYqAhXxN6A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Fire Department leaders told the Police Commission and attendees that fire prevention combines building safety, inspections, vegetation management and community engagement to reduce emergencies before they occur.

Fire Chief Chris Veil introduced the Fire Prevention Bureau and described its organizational split between structural/building inspections and wildland/vegetation management. Inspectors, plan reviewers and vegetation-management staff handle new-construction plan checks, sprinkler and alarm inspections, school inspections and special-event permits; the bureau also rotates fire investigators for 24/7 response to complex incidents.

\"Part of the fire department's focus is, has been, and always will be preventing the next emergency,\" Chief Chris Veil said. Inspector Kate Rocha outlined structural responsibilities including hydrant access, egress, signage for mixed-use buildings and inspections for high-piled storage, schools and special events. She said the bureau completed about 1,100 plan-review and construction inspections last year and that inspections can require multiple visits to verify systems such as sprinklers and alarms.

On vegetation and wildfire risk, Mike Lopez described the community wildfire protection plan, the Wildland Fire Suppression Assessment District (a special tax for parts of the Foothills), the department's chipping program and grant-funded vegetation crews supported by the Coastal Conservancy and California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). Lopez said the department conducts voluntary defensible-space evaluations and partners with the Santa Barbara Fire Safe Council.

Commissioners asked about hoarding and severe accumulation inside homes. Inspectors and the city attorney described a progressive approach: education and abatement first, then code enforcement and city-level cross-departmental teams. Staff said the worst-case legal remedy is a court-appointed receivership to clear hazards if the owner does not comply; presenters said that outcome is rare and used only after prolonged processes. \"It is a very, it can be a very long and complex drawn out process to, really at the extreme, bring a person or a homeowner into a conservatorship,\" an assistant city attorney said, describing interagency steps including building and safety, police, mental health and code enforcement.

Staff emphasized outreach tools: a physical demonstration Fire Escape Garden, Ready-Set-Go personal action guidance, Firewise USA community designation and an online submission form for voluntary defensible-space evaluations on the city's fire-prevention website. The department said neighborhood-led Firewise USA groups can be eligible for grants and may help homeowners obtain insurance premium benefits through recognized mitigation efforts.

No votes or policy changes were taken during the presentation; the session concluded with commissioners and staff discussing outreach and additional public education.","Fire Department staff presented the Fire Prevention Bureau’s roles in building inspections, fire investigations, vegetation management, defensible-space evaluations, special-assessment-funded services and interagency responses to complex hoarding and wildfire risk.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6592667,"Police commission hears annual report on military-style equipment; limited operational use reported",225,2760000,2985000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2804407-99f9fdc7bf01f1c812ad4bbf58da3333&start=2760&end=2985","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2804407-99f9fdc7bf01f1c812ad4bbf58da3333/thumbnail_2760000.jpg","/articles/6592667/Santa-Barbara-City/Santa-Barbara-County/California/Police-commission-hears-annual-report-on-military-style-equipment-limited-operational-use-reported","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6592667-75bacea6f679766e32f502e11a3a4f74/orig.mp4?Expires=1770886105&Signature=XjyIFeS79MnZGIvFACcPBSsIHNMebsdiRy3Hl5Oop5-Z~xLRGNFzninyKbk0zrK4p3wZDkwmbFtJ9pY4OQjN43kKs8OcOZKiFwTgou5-q3HcKJSWpQwjFmKVnqgGBv2~KDeVT9J3uJXqxoM-U6VeBQXUhH2Pz8jsDZQmY7osIzbLS9FNYiJ4Cfs2RoJFEEfX8c4e5j4FlIqFT2slGiqvkerpZMBJ2TgdRhA3l0Lb~wOMpEKKimlALPCO3Q1f1l8Wraq2lm5rc5rZTEbayigFqe8FtPr-h6fMgxzmqker6l0HtC~~gl24gOOaI9LJ0eubjvL-aiSBY8wlzaSecpl9Kg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Santa Barbara Police Department told the Police Commission that it used a small portion of equipment covered by state reporting rules during the previous year and that there were no department policy violations or public complaints related to equipment use.

Lieutenant Nate Beltran and other staff presented the department’s inventory and operational counts under the state government-code reporting requirement for certain tactical equipment. They said the department treats the annual presentation as an open forum requirement and tracks costs and training for each item.

The department reported 34 operational uses of its unmanned aerial system (drone) in 2024; six deployments of the BearCat armored vehicle; one deployment of a pepper-ball launcher; and no operational uses of 40mm launchers, less-lethal shotguns, distraction devices, breaching shotguns, chemical agents or operational rifle uses. Staff said the department will replace (not add) 10 rifles in the coming year to refresh its stock. \"We had 34 operational uses of [the unmanned aerial system] this year,\" one presenter said, and described typical uses such as building overwatch for barricaded suspects and interior searches to reduce risk to officers.

The department described its oversight and training: specialized units receive recurring instruction and equipment users attend required schools. Presenters said the department keeps a lifecycle inventory and rotates expendable items (for example, canisters used for training as they pass expiration). The department said it retains equipment and trains to be prepared for local incidents rather than to build capacity beyond city needs.

When commissioners asked about the phrase \"military equipment,\" presenters said the term is a legal definition that encompasses many police tools and does not mean the items were acquired from the military. Staff also said the equipment is used infrequently, that SWAT training accounts for much of the usage and that the department coordinates with harbor patrol for marine incidents.

No complaints or policy violations tied to the equipment were reported in the presentation, and the commission did not take formal action on the inventory during the meeting.","The Police Commission received the department's annual report on equipment covered by state reporting requirements, including drone use, a BearCat armored vehicle and less-lethal tools. Staff said no policy violations or public complaints were reported.",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":103,"_45":104,"_47":105,"_49":106,"_51":107,"_53":108,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":109,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":110,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6592672,"Santa Barbara Police report 109 use-of-force incidents in 2024; supervisors review every case",993,519000,1512000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2804407-99f9fdc7bf01f1c812ad4bbf58da3333&start=519&end=1512","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2804407-99f9fdc7bf01f1c812ad4bbf58da3333/thumbnail_519000.jpg","/articles/6592672/Santa-Barbara-City/Santa-Barbara-County/California/Santa-Barbara-Police-report-109-use-of-force-incidents-in-2024-supervisors-review-every-case","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6592672-2904e140bc3ef39be438e4c6ddd57b91/orig.mp4?Expires=1770886105&Signature=jdg1Kn9yk2zxH9nc9MikW64j4RUlAvWlbk5cPy88u9NDg50uAzIy3Zyff8nyZY71C1ia55mCP1FITc~shMQvH7PORuHNn-HloSJVj2TR3dgzhE4G31UBNu3YwWaet202gSq6ZsSLFOnPvZ8xA34LAPTZd4MtRXF~6v5oHukKeOo9UWWoeJEx13p2xMy2KY9UOC~BkYiaKTuycjm0IQPOu0GsRgb64zDfHKy2arRQUYWG7INgjV0qK4A-lxJfmIuqYSZq15e~nRo6RxAMr01v-qPhOn7KrkY~XcbZB-0Dqvvyr7dmZQjXcECMjJEBiKBGB4owJ-wE0IVFEhCJLuM1Wg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Santa Barbara Police Department told the Police Commission that it recorded 109 use-of-force incidents in 2024 out of 53,715 calls for service and that supervisors are required to respond to and document every use of force.

The department said the cases are routed through multiple levels of review and that supervisors must debrief officers after every use-of-force incident to identify training and procedural improvements.

The report — presented by Sergeant Mike Brown of the department’s Professional Standards Unit — described how officers apply the legal standard for force and summarized the department’s categories of force, de-escalation expectations and data for 2024. \"For this year, we had a hundred 9 incidents of use of force, and that's out of 53,715 calls for service,\" Sergeant Mike Brown said. \"That means that 99.8% of our calls of service did not require use of force.\" Brown also described the department’s reliance on California Penal Code §835a(b) and Graham v. Connor (1989) to evaluate whether force was objectively reasonable.

The presentation said the department uses an electronic records system (Blue Team, produced by VersaTerm) to document each incident. A field supervisor begins a Blue Team report at the scene, then it is routed to a commander, an assistant chief and a community accountability reviewer for layered review. Training officer Jay Duffy reviews reports to recommend training or briefings when trends are identified.

The department provided a numeric breakdown for 2024: 10 control holds/grappling uses; 3 baton/impact strikes; 1 K-9 bite; 2 leg restraints; 1 pepper-spray dispersal; 10 uses of personal weapons (hands/feet/strikes); 74 takedowns; 4 taser deployments; and 4 uses of a restraining wrap device. The presentation compared those figures to 2023 and said takedowns and several other categories rose slightly in 2024. Sergeant Brown reported 34 subject encounters with no injury, 18 with complaints of pain, 55 with minor injuries and 2 with serious injuries. For officers, 70 incidents recorded no injury, 8 recorded complaints of pain, 28 minor injuries and 1 serious injury; the department reported 2,048 lost work hours related to those injuries.

Department policy sections cited in the presentation include policy 300.1 (use of force), 300.2 (duty to intercede) and the de-escalation guidance at 300.3; speakers said those provisions mirror statutory requirements and that de-escalation (voice, neutrality, respect and trust) is built into training.

Commissioners asked about transparency and reporting. Commissioner Jones asked whether Blue Team data are shared outside the department; staff said Blue Team is an internal records system but that out-of-policy findings become internal affairs investigations and that certain serious injuries are reported to the state Department of Justice. Miss Anderson, the community accountability reviewer who meets regularly with department leadership, said she reviews use-of-force incidents and policy-violation allegations and helps ensure an outside perspective is part of the review process.

Department leaders emphasized training and supervision as tools to reduce force. The assistant chief and training staff described increased field supervision, mandatory sergeant response to each use-of-force call, in-house de-escalation training, and ongoing reviews that resulted in changes to techniques and training curricula.

The commission did not take any formal vote on policy changes at the session; the presentation was informational and followed by commissioner questions.","At a Santa Barbara Police Commission meeting, the Police Department presented its 2024 use-of-force review, reporting 109 incidents out of 53,715 calls for service and describing procedures for supervisor and multi-level review.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Police commission approves minutes from Feb. 27, 2025

Santa Barbara Fire Department outlines prevention work, defensible-space and hoarding response

Police commission hears annual report on military-style equipment; limited operational use reported

Santa Barbara Police report 109 use-of-force incidents in 2024; supervisors review every case