Santa Maria’s newly appointed Chief of Police, Christopher Williams, says he’s ready to lead with both compassion and accountability, and residents are voicing big expectations for his leadership.
“It's truly a passion that I have, serving the community,” Williams said. “My dad was a police officer. He was with the California Highway Patrol, and one of my vivid memories when I was five years old in kindergarten, he would come to the school, bring his patrol car, and see all the kids, like, excited. He was always my hero growing up.”
Williams comes into the position with more than 25 years of law enforcement experience, having served multiple leadership and field roles. His resume includes assignments in the Violent Crimes Unit, Major Crimes Unit, Special Operations, and Professional Standards Division. As assistant chief, he oversaw the Administrative Services, Investigative Services, and Field Services Bureaus, managing more than 150 sworn officers in Oxnard, the largest city in Ventura County.
“I was fortunate and very blessed to have worked on various assignments. I wouldn’t be here today without the assistance of great mentors, coworkers who really helped me out and developed me to be a strong, compassionate leader.”
Williams never saw himself taking on the role as chief, but when he saw the job opening during a nationwide search for Santa Maria, it brought back fond memories of his childhood.
“I used to be a competitive swimmer when I was in my youth. So from, like, age eight until going into high school, I used to swim competitively, and we would drive up to Santa Maria once a year for their huge swim meet that they had in the city of Santa Maria. So growing up, I always looked forward to coming up to the City of Santa Maria.”
His curiosity led him to do more research into the city and tune into city council meetings.
“I was really impressed with how efficient and effective the city council was under the leadership of Mayor Alice Patino.”
Now, his leadership is being put to the test as residents raise concerns about crime and homelessness, particularly the question of safety surrounding homeless encampments.
Longtime resident Jose Medina, who grew up on Santa Maria’s north side, says the changes in his neighborhood have become more noticeable and alarming in recent years.
“Now that I have a family, I’m more concerned. They come to our cars and check the door handles every night. It’s pretty blatant that they’re going out at night and stealing from cars. I feel like there should be more done about it,” Medina said.
Medina, who also coaches local youth sports and works in real estate, says he’s seen the impact homelessness and property crime have on the housing market and community morale.
“There’s a thin line between ‘I’m going to help you get out of this situation' and ‘I need to protect everyone else,’” Medina said. “I feel like when resources are handed out, there should also be an officer present. That way, the officer isn’t just there for discipline, he's there because he cares.”
When asked how he would address the rising concern over homelessness, Williams discussed using available resources to address the issue.
“[What] I want our police officers to do is partner with other county services, such as behavioral health, and try to extend resources out to them. Partnering with them, going out and engaging with our unhoused population,” Williams said, adding, “But we definitely have to draw a line in the sand and not allow them to victimize our residents with thefts, with assaults. And basically give them an option, and let them know that there's consequences to the negative behavior and committing illegal crimes in the city and that won't be tolerated.”
For John Burgett, who has worked at Food Co for the past eight years, the biggest issue about visibility and responsiveness.
“We don’t see [the police chief’s] face out there,” Burgett said. “We need help. Help with the homeless and with people with disabilities. The last chief didn’t do anything. I hope this one shows up.”
Burgett says he’s frustrated by a lack of follow-through when reporting crimes.
“We’ve had homeless [people] stealing stuff. We don’t get help because the cops don’t come,” he said.
Chief Williams says he understands those frustrations and is committed to listening and acting.
“We can’t arrest our way out of homelessness, but we can enforce the law when it’s being broken and get people connected to services,” he said.
Williams says the department will begin increasing public outreach and plans to attend community meetings and forums as part of his leadership approach — an important step in a city where nearly 79 percent of the population is Hispanic.
“When police officers are just driving down the street and they see youth that are playing basketball or you see older adults in the park hanging out, playing cards or whatever, you know, some type of social activity like that, I encourage our officers to get out of their car and just go up and talk to them and let them know that we're just like them. We are part of the community and engage them in conversation.”
Along with more outreach, Williams hopes to also bring in more technology to give officers more time back and help them be more proactive when it comes to addressing crime.
“By having a... real-time crime center, drone as a first responder program, having crime analysts that can help do predictive policing to allow officers to know where the crimes are more likely to happen and we can send additional resources to address that before the crime happens.”
Looking ahead, Williams says building direct relationships with residents will be a priority.
“Like my grandma always said, whenever you go somewhere or do something, you want to leave it better than when you received it, and that's always been a philosophy of mine.”
