Chief Ramon Batista cited “philosophical differences” in letter to city
Months after a dramatic City Hall shakeup that came with the appointment of a new City Manager for Santa Monica, the city’s Police Chief Ramon Batista – who has been in law enforcement for four decades – announced he was resigning from the top cop job, saying he was “at odds” with leadership.
In a letter submitted to the city manager’s office, Batista, who has led the Santa Monica Police Department for four years, alluded to problems he was having with the city’s new leadership. Late last year, Santa Monica’s City Hall got a new Mayor, Lana Negrete, along with four new City Councilmembers. Batista’s unexpected announcement comes just one month after the new members of the Santa Monica City Council appointed City Manager Oliver Chi.
“As I step aside, I do so recognizing that my nearly 40 years of experience in public safety and policing, my deeply held sense of justice, and following not only the spirit, but the letter of the law, appear to be at odds from demands from the new administration,” Batista wrote in his resignation letter. Who he is at odds with was not clarified by Batista, who could not be reached for comment.
Batiste said he plans to step down on October 4, and the city said he will be replaced by Acting Chief Santa Monica Deputy Chief Darrick Jacob, who will serve at the helm of the department while Santa Monica officials search for a permanent hire.
Losing the city’s police chief is not the first shakeup to rattle Santa Monica since Chi took office. Two weeks into Chi’s appointment, the City Council, in a stunning and unprecedented move, recalled all six of its appointments to the Downtown Santa Monica Board in a mass firing, replacing its primarily business-oriented members with activists with ties to the city’s newly elected politicians. Locals have criticized the move as a blatant and politically motivated power grab.
Last week, the City Council was also blasted in a public letter written by the Santa Monica Coalition for Livable Cities, which advocates against the building of massive housing developments in the city, for pushing locals out of discussions on development. “This Council majority is now actively dismantling public participation so that residents (both property owners and renters), can have no input into major development decisions that will radically affect them,” Coalition officials wrote. Indeed, the main objective of this City Council is to lead without opposition and try to silence groups or individuals who disagree with their unsustainable approach to development on public and private land.”
The move, the organization said, “are the actions of an arrogant, ideological, and autocratic City Council.”
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When announcing Batista’s departure, the city apparently omitted a line from the Chief’s letter that read: “…the right path is to transition leadership here, as I look forward with purpose, conviction, and optimism to my next challenge,” Batista wrote. No one has explained why.
Batista joined the Santa Monica Police Department in 2021 after serving as the Police Chief in Mesa, Arizona. He started his 40-year law enforcement career in Tucson. In Santa Monica, he oversaw a department with roughly 475 members and a $116 million budget, he wrote on LinkedIn. He took a leadership role for displaced residents of his city after the devastating Palisades fire led to evacuations, and welcomed displaced residents of the Pacific Palisades who were forced to relocate to Santa Monica and elsewhere.
Michele McPhee
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