By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer
In the midst of its very serious budget problems, Long Beach is about to lose one its most loved and respected leaders. Last month, Police Chief Anthony Batts announced that he would be resigning in September to take a new position as chief in Oakland, California.
“Chief Batts is an extraordinarily capable police chief whose professional expertise and outstanding leadership skills, and brilliant operational savvy, make him the right choice for Oakland,” said Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, in a statement issued a few weeks ago.
Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster also praised Batts. “I want to wish Chief Batts well,” he said. “I think he’s done a great job in Long Beach. I’m sad to see him leave, but I’m heartened that his talents will still be used in law enforcement in California.”
In 2002, after he had served in the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) for about 20 years, Batts was promoted to chief. Throughout his career, he had a reputation for an innovative style that transformed low-performing LBPD units into lean, highly efficient law enforcement teams. During his tenure as chief, the city experienced lower crime rates with five consecutive years of overall crime reduction from 2003 through 2008.
According to the LBPD website, “Chief Batts holds a doctorate in public administration, a master’s degree in business management, and a bachelor’s of science in law enforcement administration.” The website also lists numerous law-enforcement executive programs and anti-terrorism training courses that Batts has attended.
Batts, who is 49, is the single father of one daughter and two sons.
“I am always saddened to see one of our best administrators leave,” said 7th District Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga. “He has done great work in Long Beach, and I know he will do great work in Oakland. We have a lot of talent in the city and hopefully we will replace him quickly with one of the very qualified in-house candidates.”
“It’s a tremendous loss to our city,” said 8th District Councilwoman Rae Gabelich. “He is a true leader, and he did a terrific job with the police department.”
She noted that although some people in City Hall did not agree with Batts on several issues, he is respected throughout the country and throughout the world. “His departure reflects a leadership crisis in the city,” she said. “He could have been given more support and allowed to have more influence over his department.” Gabelich added that she understands Batts’s desire to move on to bigger challenges and she wishes him well.
Oakland’s decision to hire Batts came five-and-one-half months after former Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker resigned. He was facing the possibility of a vote of no confidence from the city council at the time and had charged that the council did not really care about public safety. Prior to Tucker’s resignation, the Oakland Police Department was dealing with a number of scandals.
Soon after Tucker’s departure, the department faced one of the biggest tragedies in its history— in March, a convicted felon shot and killed four of its police officers.
Only three days before the shootings, Batts had been recruited by the City of Oakland, but he was not interested. He later said that attending the funeral for the officers changed his mind.
At the memorial service, he noticed the distrust between the police department and the city it protects, and he found himself wishing he could change that situation. As he thought about Oakland’s high crime rates and the residents’ desire to live in a safe, peaceful city, he decided that he had to apply for the job as chief. “If I can slow down that crime rate, if I can change that negative image for the department and the community, then I will have succeeded and I will have done what I always set out to do,” Batts said. “When I look at my career, I’ve always taken jobs nobody else wanted. Hopefully, this challenge isn’t too overwhelming.”
With a homicide rate almost five times that of Long Beach, Oakland is considered one of the most violent cities in California. It has had 65 homicides so far this year, 124 in 2008 and 127 in 2007. The two cities, however, are similar in some respects. Both have a major port, and, according to U.S. Census data, in 2008 Oakland’s population was 404,155, while Long Beach’s was 463,789. Both cities are also facing significant budget reductions that are forcing cutbacks in their police departments.
Batts noted that today Oakland resembles the Long Beach of 2002. “I’ve met with community and church leaders, and they have a lot of pride. They want to improve their city so that they can do economic development,” he explained. “It’s similar to the situation in Long Beach in 2002 when crime rates were rising and investors were hard to find.”
At this point, no one knows when Batts’s last day on the job in Long Beach will be, but he expects to stay until the budget process is complete. The city council must adopt the next fiscal year budget by the end of September. The council recently waived a clause in Batts’s contract that required him to give the city 90 days notice of his resignation.
Meanwhile, the Oakland City Council must approve Batts’s contract with that city. Batts’s annual salary in Long Beach was a little more than $230,000, and it is expected that he will get more from Oakland.
Batts’ resignation puts Long Beach in the unenviable position of having both its fire and police chiefs absent while the city grapples with a serious budget shortfall. Fire Chief Dave Ellis is on medical leave as he fights cancer. His three deputy chiefs have been running the department during his leave.
Foster said the absence of the two chiefs is no cause for alarm. “Nobody should panic in these situations,” the mayor said. “We have capable professionals in both fire and police and they will get the job done.”
