SLO police Chief Deanna Cantrell is leaving after nearly 5 years on the job
In a surprise announcement, San Luis Obispo Police Chief Deanna Cantrell announced Thursday that she’ll be leaving after nearly five years leading the department.
In a news release Thursday afternoon, the city said that Cantrell will become the city of Fairfield’s next police chief.
The news comes at a particularly tumultuous time for the Cantrell. Over the last two months, she has faced criticism after police tear-gassed Black Lives Matter protesters and the department arrested activist Tianna Arata and asked the district attorney to file eight criminal charges against her for leading a protest in July.
The recent controversy came on top of other high-profile incidents, notably the loss of her gun in a public restroom in 2019 and the follow-up search that led to an investigation and arrest of an unrelated suspect.
Cantrell began the recruitment process for Fairfield in May, the city said. Her last day with the San Luis Obispo department will be Sept. 30, 2020.
Cantrell, who took over as San Luis Obispo’s police chief in January 2016, came to the Central Coast after serving more than 21 years with the city of Mesa, Arizona.
“Over the last almost five years serving as police chief, Deanna Cantrell has shown initiative and leadership bringing together the Police Roundtable and Police and Community Together (PACT) and building relationships of mutual respect and collaboration across a wide group of community members to understand and support many different points of view,” Mayor Heidi Harmon said in a news release. “We are grateful for her service.”
Cantrell said in the release that she is grateful for leading “the amazing men and women in the SLOPD that serve this complex community every day with respect, partnerships, integrity, and dedication.”
“I am thankful to have been able to work alongside a dedicated and hardworking City Council, city manager and department head team,” she added.
Bill Way, spokesman for the city of Fairfield, said that Cantrell is an “excellent fit for city leadership,” someone who will be a transparent and innovative chief.
“Nobody in a high-ranking position like hers is immune to criticism,” Way said. “We are aware of some high-profile incidents over the past few years. She admitted some mistakes and takes full responsibility. ... She believes police exist to make life better for the community.”
Way said Cantrell was chosen after a national search led by the firm Bob Murray and Associates, involving 45 candidates, and she was among a group of six finalists.
San Luis Obispo will begin a national recruitment for a new police chief in the coming months, city manager Derek Johnson said, and “will seek input from the community on the recruitment and selection process.”
SLO police chief faces controversy over protests
This summer, Cantrell has been the subject of recent scrutiny over her handling of local Black Lives Matter protests, including a June 1 rally that resulted in demonstrators marching onto Highway 101.
When protesters refused to disperse outside the police station on Santa Rosa Street, Cantrell authorized the use of tear gas.
Following a July 21 protest, San Luis Obispo police officers arrested the 20-year-old Arata on suspicion of eight criminal charges, including five felonies, for her role in a demonstration that Cantrell said put public safety at risk.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office is still reviewing the evidence against Arata to determine if charges will be filed, but the incident catapulted the protest leader to national prominence and sparked the #FreeTianna movement.
This week, Arata’s arrest was the subject of a news conference and rally at which her attorney, Curtis Briggs, called for Cantrell to resign, contending the chief has made multiple bad decisions that cost the department esteem and credibility, while placing the city on the Black Lives Matter map.
Tianna Arata advocates react
Reached for a response Thursday, Briggs said her departure “is a reaction to our requesting that she resign, that she be terminated.”
“She understands that under a close microscope her investigation will reveal a level of dishonesty on the part of the Police Department and she does not want to be employed as the SLO police chief when we air that out to the jury in this case,” Briggs said. “So I think she called in a favor and was able to take a position somewhere else because there is to be, in my opinion, a substantial amount of misconduct that we reveal.”
Briggs added that “she did not understand that this was going to get national attention.”
Cantrell was not immediately available for an interview request by The Tribune Thursday afternoon, as the city deferred questions to Johnson.
“And she didn’t understand that the level of scrutiny which would be applied to her actions,” Briggs added.
Briggs said he believes Cantrell has mishandled the Black Lives Matter protests and Arata’s arrest.
“She did some things that were dishonest,” he said. “But, you know, it’s not an easy job that she has. So I think Fairfield probably looked at her and said, ‘You know what, we’ll take her and she can learn from that mistake, and she’ll be a better chief for it.’”
Patrick Fisher, Arata’s San Luis Obispo-based trial attorney, said Cantrell’s announced departure was “certainly an interesting development.”
“With all the issues in our city and county that we’ve been dealing with, including Tianna’s arrest, I’m hopeful San Luis Obispo will follow Arroyo Grande’s lead in hiring a new chief, and make their selection in a very similar way,” Fisher said, referring to that city’s recent promotion to chief of Mike Martinez, who was selected following an inclusive process that included input from community organizations such as RACE Matters SLO and the local chapter of the NAACP.
Johnson referenced Arroyo Grande’s approach of broad community engagement in searching for the next chief.
City manager salutes Cantrell
City Manager Johnson said that Cantrell had planned to serve with the city for three to five years when she came to SLO.
“Chief Cantrell is an exceptional leader and an expert in policing and community engagement,” Johnson said. “She has been a valued member of San Luis Obispo City staff and community and we will certainly miss her.”
He added, “I am grateful for Chief Cantrell’s service and her lifelong passion for law enforcement. She used her position as a leader to continue reforms in the Police Department to improve community safety and integrate restorative and community-based policing practices. We wish her the best as she continues her work in reforming police departments and working on systemic changes to reduce the use of force and increase the support for marginalized communities.”
Johnson said her decision to leave was for “professional and personal decisions to be closer to family” in Northern California.
“She started her search in May, before the protests (in SLO),” Johnson said. “She has professional aspirations and she saw this move was a way to work in a community that met her work and personal goals while being closer to family.”
Johnson said Cantrell and he, along with the City Council, all believe in reform to address systemic racism.
Capt. Jeff Smith will fill the interim police chief role while the city reaches out to a variety of stakeholders, including the NAACP and RACE Matters SLO to discuss the qualities various community groups would like to see in the next police chief.
Missing gun incident
Cantrell has weathered her share of controversies over the last year in particular.
In July 2019, she was docked two days’ pay and issued a public apology after she misplaced her gun in the restroom of El Pollo Loco restaurant.
The incident elevated from an apparently inadvertent mistake to a potentially illegal search when the investigation targeted the wrong man as a suspect.
Cantrell said she was using the bathroom at the eatery near Target on July 10, 2019, and set the weapon aside, leaving and returning to her table for several minutes before realizing the gun was missing from her waist.
After an urgent search that included the chief interviewing people at the eatery and checking the business’ surveillance footage, Cantrell alerted the public of a potential suspect captured on the El Pollo Loco camera.
Morro Bay Police Department officials informed SLOPD the suspect might be Cheyne Orndoff, Cantrell said, and city police officials searched his San Luis Obispo home without a warrant, believing Orndoff was on probation when he actually wasn’t.
SLO officials later said the mixup on Orndoff’s probation was due to a clerical error in the court system’s database, and it was Orndoff’s brother Cole who was the person on probation due to a drug-related conviction.
As a result of the search, Orndoff and his wife, Vanessa Bedroni, were arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment charges after needles and methamphetamine were found in the home, Former Deputy District Attorney Phil Joo asserted in an early court hearing.
Orndoff and Bedroni have pleaded not guilty, with the case set for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 24, when defense attorneys are expected to address the legality of the search. City officials believe the search was justified.
Defense attorneys also have filed requests to review Cantrell’s cell phone records from around the time of the search of Orndoff’s home, and the city and attorneys have made arguments amid ongoing proceedings before Judge Tim Covello about which records specifically are legally accessible for release to the defense.
Cantrell recommended charges against Los Osos resident Skeeter Mangan, the man who actually found the gun and handed it over to authorities a day after it was reported missing. But the District Attorney’s Office declined to press charges.
The City Council has a closed session meeting scheduled for Friday to discuss possible lawsuits that may be filed against the city related to Arata’s arrest and the search of Orndoff and Bedroni’s home.
Officer shoots SLO couple’s dog
The chief faced controversy again in September 2019 when department officers shot and killed a couple’s dog while investigating a burglary report.
A protest later was partially organized by Nick Regalia and Riley Manford, whose dog, Bubbers, was shot and killed by police Officer Joshua Walsh.
The city claims the unleashed dog “charged” Walsh, who was responding to a possible burglary at the couple’s apartment complex across from the police station.
Regalia and Manford contend the dog was not moving toward the officers and was hit twice from three shots fired by Walsh while Manford was dangerously close as she tried to grab her pet.
Regalia and Manford have repeatedly criticized the department’s handling of the incident, saying they were both at home and no burglary was taking place at their residence when the incident occurred.
It remains unclear exactly what happened because Cantrell and other city officials have denied formal requests for the release of the officers’ body camera footage, saying state laws don’t require release in an shooting involving an animal.
Regalia said the department lacks transparency because the body cam footage hasn’t been released. But city officials have responded that releasing body cam footage when it’s not required could expose witnesses unnecessarily.
This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 3:24 PM.
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