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."

Councilman to Drop "Cop" From His Title

Santa Barbara Newsroom
By Tom Schultz
May 10, 2007

A Goleta city councilman retires this week from the Santa Barbara Police Department, capping a 32-year career in law enforcement.

Officer Roger Aceves, 52, got his first job with the department in 1975 working dispatch. In 1977, he became a Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputy — returning to the Police Department as an officer in 1981.

"I've had my share of fun," Aceves said Wednesday. "It's a little bit overwhelming because this is what I've known for 32 years."

He's been shot at, and he had six major surgeries following work-related injuries. These included nearly losing his left thumb in a fight at the Faulding Hotel, a low-cost residence hotel that has since been renamed.

Aceves will serve his last day on the job Friday, and is scheduled to turn in his gear this coming Monday.

Aceves is a freshman member of the Goleta council, having taken the oath of office in December with a new majority that won in November. During last year's hard-fought council contest, he pledged to make public safety a priority, along with proposed changes to key planning policies guiding the city.

The cop-turned-politician barely won his seat, finishing third in a race for three open seats. He beat the fourth place finisher, incumbent Cynthia Brock, by 55 votes.

Policing and politics have kept Aceves busy since he joined the council. He said he's been working seven days a week lately.

Recently, he has participated in ongoing talks between Goleta and the Sheriff's Department over renewal of a multi-year contract between the two. Goleta contracts with the department for police services, and that agreement is up for renewal at the end of this fiscal year.

Retirment will "keep me more focused just on the city of Goleta," Aceves said, adding he will no longer need to worry about being on call in case of an emergency.

"I've been involved in so many big cases that they will always be a part of my life," he said,

One of his biggest cases was a prolonged 1995 hostage standoff downtown on Bath Street.

A man fired at Aceves with a rifle, missing him by about a foot, he said.

The entire incident lasted 21 hours, with Aceves successfully negotiating the release of the assailant's son.

For his efforts, Aceves won the H. Thomas Guerry Award presented each year locally for valor and superior performance. A Santa Barbara Police officer, Guerry died in the line of duty at the age of 29 in 1970 in an exchange of gunfire after locating two armed robbery suspects near State and Ortega Streets.

For a time, Aceves was a major crimes detective -- investigating robberies and murders. He also served as a training officer and on an anti-DUI team.

But he never rode a motorcycle, he said. "That, I refused."

Donate to the Santa Barbara Newsroom to help cover operating expenses and help make ends meet.

Congratulations Roger! - Goleta Observer

On The Beat With Barney: Goleta $$$

Excerpt from Barney Brantingham's column this week at The Independent:

Goleta $$$: Although Goleta may have elected the best City Council that developer money can buy, Roger Aceves says it’s wrong to lump him in with the big money boys. Roger says he raised only $27,000 or so and didn’t run as part of a slate with Michael Bennett and Eric Onnen, who were backed by major developer donations.

Click here for Barney's complete column at The Independent.

Funds Won't Buy Votes, Three New Councilmen Say

Sonia Fernandez at the Goleta Valley Voice has an article this week about the three new Goleta City Council members who received large, last-minute contributions from developers looking to build in the city.

Onnen also said he would not recuse himself from council proceedings unless required to by law.

(Interesting comment on Onnen's part...)

“It seems to me (the contributions) would have some effect, otherwise why would people give that much money? It seems that you would want to get a return on your investment,” said local resident Jeff Haight. “I would hope that that’s not the case.”

(And this seems a little bit closer to the truth. But we shall wait to see what happens. Bishop Ranch suit against the City is still pending, and a decision whether to go forward or not is supposed to happen on March 15th.)

Click here for Sonia's complete article.

City Council Meeting Dates Won't Be Changing

Agenda Item D2 of today's Council Meeting was another one of Michael Bennett's hopeful changes that quickly got derailed.

With Councilmembers Aceves, Onnen and Wallis voting No on moving the Council Meetings to Tuesdays, they clearly spoke in support of the fact that the City of Goleta does need to have representation at other public agency meetings held throughout the week, and that they possibly wouldn't be able to attend or have input at, if the Council meetings had been moved to Tuesday.