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Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester, the first woman to serve as the city’s police chief, announced Monday her retirement after serving for more than three decades in law enforcement.
Lester, who succeeded Daniel Hahn as police chief, presided over soaring violence in Sacramento during the COVID-19 pandemic and the capital city’s worst mass shooting in 2022 on K Street. Six people died and 12 more were injured in what prosecutors have alleged was a standoff between two gangs.
Crime in the city of Sacramento cratered last year, with sharp declines across car thefts, burglaries, robberies, rape and homicides.
“Serving the Sacramento community has been the honor of my career,” she wrote in a news release. “The decision comes at the right time for me and my family, and I look forward to the next chapter.”
Lester first joined the Sacramento Police Department in 1994 as a dispatcher and became a sworn officer in 1996. She worked across many departments before ascending to the top leadership position.
She is a Sacramento State graduate and served in the Army.
Lester’s retirement also comes as the city grapples with a $66.2 million budget deficit that called for cutting vacant police positions and moving officers to new jobs.
Her retirement is effective May 15, before the council is expected to adopt a final budget in June. Deputy Chief Zachary Bales will assume Lester’s role as an interim chief during a critical period.