Santa Barbara Police and Fire Departments Recognized for Exemplary Performance and Service

Santa Barbara Police and Fire Departments Recognized for Exemplary Performance and Service

Santa Barbara Police Department Demonstrates Exemplary Performance in 2025 Annual Public Reporting and Fire Department Delivers Extraordinary Mutual Aid Support Across the State and Nation

Fire and Police Commission Public Statement - The purpose of the Fire and Police Commission is to act in an advisory capacity to the City Council and the City Administrator in all matters relating to the efficient and adequate fire and police protection for the City of Santa Barbara. A central duty of the Commission is the review of the Santa Barbara Police Department's annual public reporting, including the Annual Use of Force Review and the data collected under California's Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA).

In each of these reports, the Commission is confident in stating that the data continues to describe an exemplary law enforcement agency - one that resolves nearly every encounter without force, holds itself to rigorous standards of review, and treats de-escalation as a measurable, documented practice. The Commission's review of the Santa Barbara City Fire Department's 2025 Annual Report reveals the same standard of excellence, distinguished this year by the Department's exceptional mutual aid response to wildfire and emergency incidents through the state and across the country.

Use of Force: Restraint as the Rule, Not the Exception

In 2025, the Department responded to 56,439 calls for service and used force in only 119 incidents, meaning that 99.79% of all police encounters were resolved without any use of force. This is not an anomaly: the non-force rate has remained remarkably consistent at 99.81% in 2023 and 99.80% in 2024, even as total calls for service grew by nearly 9,000 over the same period. Officers also documented 1,047 formal de-escalations in 2025 - nearly nine successful de-escalations for every single use of force.

When force was necessary, it was overwhelmingly at the lower end of the force spectrum. Takedowns accounted for 84 of the 119 incidents, while the Department recorded zero uses of an impact weapon or baton and zero K-9 bites for the entire year. Notably, in 45% of takedown incidents the suspect was exhibiting assaultive resistance, meaning officers deliberately chose a lower level of force than the resistance they faced. The outcomes reflect that restraint: zero serious bodily injuries were reported for suspects throughout the entire year, 87% of all use of force incidents resulted in no injury or only minor injury to the suspect, and 97% of reported officer injuries were strictly low-level.

These results are the product of deliberate investment. The Department completed 11,329 total training hours in 2025, including more than 8,300 POST-certified hours, with continued emphasis on de-escalation, crisis intervention, and arrest and control techniques.

RIPA: Transparency Measured in Hundreds of Thousands of Data Points

Under the Racial and Identity Profiling Act, the Department has tracked and reported over 36,000 stops to the California Department of Justice across the last three years, including 13,253 in 2025, with every record capturing the objective circumstances of the stop and the officer's perception of demographics, and with no personal identifying information ever submitted to the state. The data reflects a Department whose contacts are measured and proportionate: verbal warnings were the single most frequent outcome of a stop in each of the last three years, and over 68% of all stops resulted in no search whatsoever. The Commission also wants to highlight that the Department's own demographics closely mirror the community it serves.

"These are not the numbers of a Department that just talks about de-escalation - they are the numbers of a Department that trains for it, documents it, and delivers it more than a thousand times a year," said Vice Chair Alberto Lapuz. "Resolving 99.79% of encounters without force, with zero serious injuries to suspects, is a standard any city in California would be proud of."

The Commission remains equally committed to hearing directly from the residents of Santa Barbara. Transparent data is the beginning of accountability, not the end of it, and the Commission will continue to bring these reports into public session, invite community questions, and provide civilian input on departmental policies, practices, and procedures. "The data tells us the Department is doing exceptional work - but we want to keep hearing from you, in your neighborhoods, about what safety looks and feels like in your daily lives," shared Chair Aaron Jones.

Fire Department: Mutual Aid that Reaches Well Beyond City Limits

The Commission also reviewed the Santa Barbara City Fire Department's 2025 Annual Report and wishes to draw particular attention to the Department's extraordinary record of mutual aid. Over the course of the year, Santa Barbara firefighters deployed to twelve separate incidents in support of other jurisdictions across California and the country, contributing 65 personnel deployments and 13,758 hours of services. These deployments generated over a total of $1.8 million in reimbursements to the City. These mutual aid commitments spanned some of the most significant wildfire and emergency responses of the year. In January, Santa Barbara personnel supported the Eaton and Palisades incidents in Southern California. Through the summer months, crews deployed to the Madre, Marble, Gifford, Dillon, Pickett, Bear Gulch, and Garnett incidents, along with continued Los Padres Forest support.

This work stands alongside the Department's core service to Santa Barbara, where it responded to 11,982 incidents in 2025 - roughly 70% of them rescue and emergency medical calls - while sustaining more than 15,200 hours of training.

The Commission publicly recognizes and commends Chief Kelly Gordon, the officers, and the professional staff of the Santa Barbara Police Department for a record that demonstrates continuous improvement, disciplined restraint, and an unwavering commitment to protect the lives of all of our residents and visitors. The Commission likewise commends the leadership, firefighters, and professional staff of the City of Santa Barbara Fire Department for their outstanding service throughout 2025 - both in daily protection of our community and in their generous mutual aid support of jurisdictions across California and the nation during a demanding wildfire year.

For more information and to view meeting recordings, visit Fire and Police Commission.