An inside source at Santa Ana’s City Hall reported tonight that Santa Ana Chief of Police Paul Walters was selected to serve as interim Santa Ana City Manager, at a special session of the City Council. He will continue to serve as Chief of Police while the search for a new City Manager continues.
Walters was one of several candidates for interim city manager, including Parks and Recreation Director Gerardo Mouet.
Walters has done a great job over the years managing an increasingly tight police budget. Some years ago he managed the building of the Santa Ana police headquarters and jail. He has consistently kept the jail full by renting extra space out to the feds.
The City Council was initially split but they rallied at the end and got behind Walters.
There is however concern in some quarters as to whether or not Walters will be able to be objective. The SAPD uses up half of the city’s budget. Will he be able to cut the SAPD’s budget, if he has to?
And what will Walters do with regard to stopping the unjust seizure of immigrants’ cars at the SAPD’s DUI checkpoints?
A “great job” for a police chief like Walters should not be that “he has consistently kept the jail full”. It should be that crime has gone down, recidivism has gone down, and the jail is being closed. How about a “great job” being defined as “he has consistently invested in community oriented policing”? How about “he has invested in more programs to support our youth” rather than treat them all as criminals-to-be?
What kind of mayor and city council do we have when they put the police chief in a position where he decides how much of the city’s total budget goes to his own department?! Was there really no one better who could do the job on an interim basis?! I mean really, this is why people across southern Calif make fun of our city. Stupid decision after stupid decision.
You know, I like Paul Walters, and I think he is a level-headed person, but Mr. CS, you bring up a good point. How even handed will he be when it comes to budget decisions? He IS still the Police Chief.
Recent information obtained from the White House log shows that Santa Ana Police Union paid $75,000 to Obama reelection in exchange for this picture.
Are you proud about your SAPD?