Police Officers Association Welcomes New Santa Barbara Chief and New Solutions

The Santa Barbara Police Officers Association is welcoming incoming Chief Lori Luhnow at a time when there are staffing and retention problems.

Cheif Luhnow will be sworn in at 4 p.m. this afternoon at City Hall.
She comes from the San Diego Police Department where she was a Captain.

Luhnow will be the first female Chief of Police in the history of the department.

Officers in Santa Barbara say a change at the top will be a chance to try new solutions from the front office to the front line of law enforcement.

“We want to solve those problems and I think Chief Luhnow will respond to that and I am pretty confident she is going to bring to this department the things this department needs to serve the community better,” said Eric Beecher the President of the Police Officers Association.

Currently the Santa Barbara Police department is actively recruiting to add 15 to 20 new officers by early next year, to fill vacancies and be prepared for anticipated retirements.