The selection earlier this month of SMPD Cpt. Jacqueline Seabrooks, the commanding officer of the police department’s Office of Criminal Investigations, to become the Chief of Police in the City of Inglewood will create a void in the Santa Monica Police Department command structure and an opportunity – perhaps several opportunities, considering the possible ripple effect – for officers to move up to fill the vacancy.
Seabrooks, who was one of three senior SMPD officers considered for the position of Chief in Santa Monica before Timothy J. Jackman was brought in for the job from the Long Beach Police Department last year, was selected by the Inglewood City Council and will assume her new duties in early October. She and Deputy Chief Phillip L. Sanchez and Cpt. Mark Smiley rotated as interim Chief in Santa Monica last fall after Chief James T. Butts, Jr. left for Los Angeles World Airports and before Jackman was named.
Saying that “it has been a privilege to see and be a part of the changes I’ve seen in 25 years” on the Santa Monica force, Seabrooks also told the Mirror that her departure for Inglewood will create some room for promotion within the department as officers move up to the command staff and themselves make way for promotions in their wake. She was pleased to be able to facilitate such upward movement.
At press time, Chief Jackman had just returned from vacation and could not be reached for comment as to how he intended to deal with the problems/opportunities of Cpt. Seabrooks’ departure. On August 15, he distributed an internal memorandum in which he noted, “Captain Seabrooks was the first woman to earn promotions to the rank of sergeant, lieutenant and captain in this organization’s history. She will continue this trend by becoming the City of Inglewood’s first female Chief of Police….Captain Seabrooks’ leadership and influence have been far reaching in the law enforcement arena, in this organization and certainly in the community.”
Seabrooks makes her home in Inglewood and said she appreciates the importance – the “enhanced accountability” – of serving in the community in which she lives. She said that she is “looking forward to the challenge of working with professional men and women in furtherance of public safety,” but added that Santa Monica “will always be an important place in my heart” and that “it is the sum total of these experiences that I’ll be taking with me to Inglewood.”
