A ‘ Funployee’ from Old Navy picks out a  pair of flip flops that are encapsulated in a giant frozen block of ice  at the Santa Monica Pier while promoting this summer’s fashions line on Saturday, May 27, 2012. They were giving a way the flip flops to people who answered trivia questions correctly.

Former Inglewood Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks swears in as the new Santa Monica Police Department Chief at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on Tuesday, May 29, 2012. Seabrooks is the first female and 16th Chief of the Santa Monica Police Department.

Seabrooks, a 25-year veteran of the Santa Monica Police Department and Inglewood Chief for the past four and one-half years, was chosen after a three month, nationwide search.  

With extensive experience in both field operations and administration, Seabrooks has covered the spectrum of public safety posts from traffic safety to tactical commander, information technology to department collaboration with community partners. She has a strong track record in leadership, fiscal management and skill training initiatives.

“I am delighted to announce that Chief Seabrooks will return to Santa Monica to complete her remarkable career in law enforcement,” said Rod Gould. “Twenty five years in the Santa Monica Police Department, rising from Police Officer to Captain and holding numerous specialty assignments in between, have prepared her well to lead this department. Jacqueline Seabrooks’ four and one-half years as Chief of Police in Inglewood have tested her and proven her metal. While at Inglewood, she has provided great service to that community in stabilizing and improving law enforcement services, despite tremendous external scrutiny and budgetary pressures.”

“Chief Seabrooks distinguished herself in the selection process. I believe that she is the right person to lead the department in this second decade of the new Century and to make an already high performing Police Department even stronger. Chief Seabrooks has deep ties to the community and members of the organization and will be very active and highly engaged with both. Her integrity, leadership and judgment have been validated consistently over her nearly 30 years in law enforcement. We are fortunate that she will return to do her best work yet in Santa Monica.”

The City went to great lengths to seek top candidates for the Chief of Police from throughout the nation. The candidate pool was deep in executive level experience in some of the premier law enforcement agencies in the United States. To ensure that the process was as objective and comprehensive as possible, Santa Monica engaged the services of the International City County Management Association (ICMA) and International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) to advise on the recruitment. This included conducting 35 interviews with members of the Police Department and the community to develop a profile of the Santa Monica Police Department and the desired traits and characteristics for the next Chief. It included development of a tool to screen the initial paper applications and phone interviews down to the 5 candidates who undertook a full day Assessment Center on March 27. The Assessment Center involved 6 exercises designed to replicate day to day challenges for the Police Chief in Santa Monica. The exercises were scored by specially trained raters from the community and organization. At the conclusion of the Assessment Center, the 2 top performers underwent additional interviews with the City Manager, City Attorney, and key staff.

“I am equally honored, humbled, and excited to accept this offer to work in the Santa Monica community as its next Chief of Police,” said Seabrooks. “I am particularly happy to be joining a community that is so involved and leading a Police Department with great achievements in public safety. ”

Seabrooks succeeds retired Police Chief Timothy J. Jackman.

As Chief of Police, Seabrooks will receive a salary of $238,752. She will manage a department with a budget of over $70 million and 443 employees, including 215 sworn spread across the divisions of Administration, Operations, Special Enforcement and Criminal Enforcement.

Seabrooks has a Masters Degree in Public Policy and Administration from California State University, Long Beach and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Administration from California State University, Dominguez Hills. She is a member of several professional associations including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and she serves as a board member of the California Police Chief’s Association.

The Santa Monica Oceanaires sing the American Armed Forces Medley at Woodlawn Cemetery during the 74th Annual Memorial Day Observance on Monday, May 28, 2012.

Santa Monica High School student Eli Brown plays Taps  during the 74th Annual Memorial Day Observance at Woodlawn Cemetery on Monday, May 28, 2012.

Hundreds of flags wave in the breeze at Woodlawn Cemetery during the 74th Annual Memorial Day Observance on Monday, May 28, 2012.

Elisa Gemme  adds her foot prints onto Animal Kingdom’s multi-species community art project during  the Pico de Mayo festival at the Santa Monica Civic parking lot on Sunday, May 27, 2012.

Moviegoers watch 'Anchorman' on a giant 52- foot wide screen at Santa Monica High School's Greek Theater during the season kicks-off of 'Eat|See|Hear' on Saturday, May 26, 2012. The event featured Los Angeles’ favorite food trucks including Coolhaus, The Lime Truck, Flatiron Truck and more. Eat|See|Hear will be traversing Los Angeles, every Saturday night for seventeen straight weeks until September 15. Admission: $10 general admission, $20 fashionably late. Minimum age for this event is 13+.

Ryan Dewitt, 37, lifts 611.7 lbs during the Muscle Beach RAW Bench Press competition at Venice beach on Saturday May, 26, 2012.