Santa Ana Police Chief Dave Valentin sent out a department-wide letter today announcing his retirement from the post he had held since 2017.
“It has been my life’s honor to serve as a Santa Ana Police Officer in the very City that I was born and raised in,” wrote Valentin. “I have decided to retire in 2023.”
Valentin is the 21st police chief in Santa Ana’s 54-year history, and the first Santa Ana native to hold the position.
Prior to becoming chief of the SAPD, Valentin served for five years as chief of police for the Santa Ana Unified School District.
“I close out my 33-year plus career as the 21st police chief at SAPD and proudly the 1st Chief from Santa Ana, and transition to the next chapter of life,” wrote Valentin to department officers and staff. “I wish you all the best for continued success in representing one of the finest Police Departments in the country!”
An SAPD news release cited a number of accomplishments under Valentin, including re-establishing community based policing “as a way of doing business across the Department” and implementing a 5-Year Strategic Plan resulting in “full authorized police officer staffing” while elevating standards of hiring,” increasing transparency, reduced response times and other accomplishments.
Much of Valentin’s tenure was marked by conflict with the Santa Ana Police Officers Association and its president Gerry Serrano. In September 2021, the SAPOA voted “no confidence” in Valentin, and the relationship went downhill from there. The city recently forced Serrano into medical retirement, following a see-saw contract battle in which the city eliminated and then restored the SAPOA presidency as a full-time release position.
Valentin took a parting shot in his goodbye letter, writing, “In spite of what a handful of people did in failed attempts to destroy me professionally and personally,” he wrote, “Allow my experience to serve as an example of the importance of perseverance and redemption.”
“Coming from a space where I could have been easily killed on these very streets or have been sent to prison like several young men I grew up with,” the departmental release quotes Valentin, “to humbly and proudly serving as a Santa Ana police officer and then rising to serve as the first police chief from Santa Ana – is truly surreal.”
