California Police Chief- Fall 2013 CPCA_2018_Winter Magazine-FINAL | Page 32

Chief Valentin understands his community and the unique
characteristics that make Santa Ana a great city to serve as
an officer at any rank.
Barely under a year in office, Chief Valentin is leading
the Department through a full transformation of going
back to “the basics.” Senior Command Staff is comprised
of three newly selected Deputy Chiefs, all with a combined
72 years of service with SAPD. Chief Valentin believes in
establishing and maintaining strong ties with his com-
munity, and expects all members, regardless of rank or
position, to do the same. As featured in IACP’s 2017 short
film project, Chief Valentin wants his officers to “get out of
their cars and talk to the community they serve.” Focusing
on generating and sustaining trust with the community by
maintaining transparency as the foundation are the corner-
stone of SAPD servant leadership model under the motto
of serving on ONE TEAM with the Santa Ana community,
jointly working on ONE MISSION with the community.
As modern policing goes, not all the answers are found
in technology. SAPD is developing a policing philosophy
supported by a Chief’s five-year strategic plan on how to
provide services to its diverse population with custom-
er service as the primary objective. This development
involved several inclusive community meetings led by
community members, line-level officers and support staff.
This is the first time the community served has had direct
32
California Police Chief | www.californiapolicechiefs.org
influence and impact on establishing its Police Depart-
ment’s policing philosophy.
Like most departments across the nation, SAPD is
faced with the issue of recruitment. It has an approved
sworn staff of 383, with a current staffing of 322 officers,
supported by 200 plus civilian members in various posi-
tions. The Department has also dedicated a newly estab-
lished, fulltime sworn staff member to address recruitment
efforts. Despite the vacancies, the full-time recruitment
has yielded a high turnout of successful applicants to meet
the staffing needs of modern policing. Additionally, every
member of the Department is expected to take an active
role as a recruiter.
In support of technology, and after two years of
research and community outreach, SAPD successfully
launched its Body Worn Camera Program in September
2017. SAPD trained 300 members and deployed 230 cam-
eras in Field Operations to include patrol officers, gang
enforcement detectives, motor officers, canine officers, and
specialized field units. Over the course of the program’s
first year, SAPD was the first agency to establish an Officer
Involved Shooting Procedure and an Audit Procedure to
support the established policy.
In the arena of training, the Department’s dedicated
full-time training staff made massive improvements in the
delivery of mandated perishable skills training. Historical-