Embattled Mesa Police Chief Ramon Batista steps down
Nov 4, 2019, 3:11 PM | Updated: Nov 5, 2019, 9:36 am
(Twitter Photo/@RBatista10)
PHOENIX — The city of Mesa announced Monday that embattled Police Chief Ramon Batista has stepped down.
His departure comes five months after the Mesa Police Association held a vote in which 95% of 564 officers surveyed said they do not have confidence in him.
The city said in a press release that Batista “has given notice of his intent to leave the department to pursue personal interests and other professional opportunities.” Batista’s departure is effective immediately.
“Chief Batista has served this community well, taking over the department during some challenging times.” City Manager Chris Brady said in the release.
“He worked hard to connect with the community and provide expanded field training for our officers.”
An announcement about an interim chief is pending, the release said.
Batista was hired in 2017 after retiring from the Tucson Police Department. He’s worked more than three decades in law enforcement.
The Mesa Police Association issued the following statement Monday:
“Chief Batista’s resignation marks the third leadership transition in less than a decade for our department. We look forward to working with the city council and city management to find a long-term chief who will serve our city well.”
MPA President Glenn Pearson declined interview requests.
The MPA, the department’s union, has criticized the way Batista handled controversial use-of-force incidents and said in a February post the incidents were “wildly exaggerated and fueled by Chief Batista’s epic failure of leadership.”
The union believed Batista prematurely convicted officers in the court of public opinion and destroyed morale in the department, leading to May’s no-confidence vote among sworn officers and staff.
The city’s announcement Monday noted that the department saw significant changes in training under Batista, and crime rates fell to their lowest rates since numbers were first collected in the 1970s.