Aceves bids goodbye to the force

Santa Barbara Daily Sound
By Colby Frazier
Daily Sound Staff Writer

After 32 years as a Santa Barbara City Police officer, Roger Aceves has decided to hang up his badge.

During his tenure on the force, Aceves negotiated the release of a young hostage during a 21-hour incident on Bath Street and nearly lost his thumb in a fight at the Faulding Hotel.

But Aceves, 52, is ready to spend time behind the dais at Goleta City Hall, where he has pulled double duty for the past five months as a Goleta City Councilman — a calling that has become his new full-time job.

Shortly after graduating from Santa Barbara High School, Aceves joined the police force as a dispatcher in 1975.

He was hired as a Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Deputy in 1977, but found his permanent calling in Santa Barbara as a police officer in 1981.

"It was in my blood to become a policeman," Aceves told the Daily Sound during a phone interview.

He said his great grandfather was Chief of Police in Gomez Palacios in the state of Durango, Mexico. His genetic disposition for law enforcement combined with an explorer unit class at Santa Barbara High School to spur his interest in the profession.

Aceves served for 10 years as a major crimes detective, but retired as a police officer.

His newest calling came in a tight race for a seat on the Goleta City Council, during which he and two other challenging candidates unseated three incumbents.

When the smoke cleared and the last absentee ballot was counted, Aceves pulled through with a slim 55-vote lead over incumbent Cynthia Brock — a narrow victory that sealed the sweep.

Before his bid for the Goleta City Council, Aceves ran for Santa Barbara County Sheriff in 2001. He took third place, but as a non-sheriff managed to rack up about 10 percent of the vote.

"That was a remarkable showing considering I was an outsider trying to come back," Aceves said. "That told me that I had a calling to set policy and I'm just so excited about being a City Councilman because that's exactly what my next public service role should be."

Rather than putt around the Southwest in a motor home or retire to the Hollywood Park horse racetrack, Aceves' No. 1 priority entering retirement is to establish a vibrant parks and recreation program in Goleta.

"That's something that we've lost sight of as a community," Aceves said.

Aceves also plans to use his expertise as a police officer to make Goleta a safer place.

Aceves' most recent political accomplishment arrived via a tentative five-year contract with the Sheriff's Department, which provides law enforcement for Goleta.

The contract will go before the council and receive public comment in the next couple of weeks.

But taking a hard line on law enforcement isn't the only thing Aceves has brought with him to City Hall.

His 25 years as a negotiator for the Police Department taught him how to listen and "find a resolution to whatever is being debated."

His skills as a negotiator were put to test in 1994 when a man took his own son as a hostage after a domestic dispute with the boy's mother.

The man shot a rifle at Aceves, but narrowly missed by about 12 inches. Aceves said the man attempted to shoot the SWAT team eight additional times during the course of the 21-hour debacle that ended with Aceves successfully taking the man down.

For his efforts, Aceves earned the H. Thomas Guerry Award, which is given each year to an officer who demonstrates valor, skill in conflict resolution and oustanding overall performance.

Aceves said one of his favorite posts at the Police Deparment was as a detective, where he investigated crimes and interviewed suspects.

"I really enjoyed my time as investigator where I was able to obtain confessions," Aceves said. "I would not give up. I would continue to fight until I got the confession."

One confession Aceves said he was particularly proud of was when a man charged with murdering his wife near Earl Warren Showgrounds repeatedly called Aceves collect from jail. Aceves said he managed to get the man to admit the murder was premeditated, which increased the charge to first degree murder.

"He just kept calling and calling collect and ultimately confessed to the premeditation of the murder of his wife," Aceves said.

Though Aceves noted similarities between fighting crime and being a city councilman, he hopes the toll that the latter takes on his body won't be quite as extreme.

As a police officer, Aceves said he's undergone six work-related surgeries.

"It's been a very physically-demanding job," Aceves said. "I'm really proud that I was able to help my community."