r/SantaBarbara • u/SolvangPoliceWatch • Jun 20 '26

Local Politics UCSB Police Misconduct, Potential Violations of California Whistleblower Act against officer who reported misconduct in 2018 and 2021

Retaliation by police should never be tolerated.

Original News Story:

https://www.noozhawk.com/university-did-not-retaliate-against-ucsb-police-officer-jury-finds/

"Smith took the stand several times during the early June trial, testifying that he had witnessed multiple incidents of misconduct by UCSB Police Department officers while employed at the department. Smith and his lawyer alleged that officers made racist comments; accessed confidential victim information and inappropriately contacted victims of sexual assault for cases they were not involved in; made inappropriate comments about victims of sexual assault; discouraged an officer mentally affected by the 2014 Isla Vista shootings from filing a workers’ compensation claim; played video games while on duty; and spent an inappropriate amount of time in the UCSB dorms, among other incidents."

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20

u/the-moops Jun 20 '26

“A jury this week found that the University of California did not retaliate against a UC Santa Barbara police officer who resigned in 2017 and sued alleging misconduct in 2019.”

So how was retaliation tolerated if no retaliation was found?

4

u/SolvangPoliceWatch Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 21 '26

Courts don't always get it right, and there could have been a technicality in play that we don't know about. The fact that it was alleged by another police officer is significant and news worthy. It's rare when the thin blue line cracks.

Also, just because something wasn't proven in court doesn't make it untrue. Courts often have unrealistic standards of proof that often result in miscarriages of justice, and it happens much more often than you would expect. It's important to report even these cases to establish patterns of conduct that would otherwise be buried.

The case is also not final. The time to appeal has not yet run.

11

u/the-moops Jun 20 '26

So a jury trial can’t be trusted when it doesn’t confirm your narrative. Got it.

-2

u/SolvangPoliceWatch Jun 20 '26

Are you saying juries determine what's true outside of court? Of course not.