![\"KCRA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769020329_917_kcra.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEASY — EASILY. MIKE: THANK YOU SO MUCH, EILEEN. IT\u2019S BEEN ABOUT 6 MONTHS SINCE KATHERINE LESTER WAS PUBLICALLY SWORN IN AS SACRAMENTO\u2019S FIRST FEMALE POLICE CHIEF AND TO DISCUSS THE STATE OF AFFAIRS . SHE\u2019S JOINING US LIVE IN STUDIO THIS MORNING. >YOU ARE OFFICIALLY SWORN IN BEHIND THE SCENES AROUND FEBRUARY. >> I TOOK THE REINS AT THE END OF DECEMBER AND WE HAD A CEREMONY AT MARCH. MIKE: YOU ANNOUNCE THAT WHAT — THAT WOULD BE A KEY PURSUIT AND WHAT IS THE FRAMEWORK FOR THAT AND HOW IS IT GOING? >> THIS IS SOMETHING WE HAVE WORKED IN THIS DEPARTMENT FOR QUITE A WHILE. WE WERE NOT UNIQUE WHEN HE LOOKED AT OUR NUMBERS COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE NATURE — NATION. VIOLENCE. WE WERE NO EXCEPTION. WE SAW SIGNIFICANT INCREASE — INCREASES AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE KEY INITIATIVES WHEN I TOOK THE ROLE OF POLICE CHIEF WAS DEFINED — WHICH WAS TO FIND A WAY TO ADDRESS THE VIOLENCE IN THE COMMUNITY. MIKE: WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES YOU ARE FACING NOW? >> IT HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE WITH THE PULL OF RATION OF GUNS IN THE COMMUNITY — COLLABORATION OF GUNS — PROLIFERATION OF GUNS IN THE COMMUNITY. PEOPLE ARE RESORTING TO VIOLENCE TO RESOLVE — RESOLVE DIFFERENCES AND THAT HAS BEEN CONTRIBUTING TO THE NUMBERS. THAT IS WHY WE ARE TAKING A DIFFERENT APPROACH THAN WHAT WE HAVE SEEN IN PAST YEARS, WHEN IT IS NOT JUST AN ENFORCEMENT APPROACH WHICH IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT, BUT IT IS LOOKING AT THE VIOLENCE AND WHAT IS DRIVING PEOPLE TO COMMIT VIOLENCE. MIKE: COMBING THROUGH THE DATA, GHOST GUNS, THE SEIZURE OF THEM AS MORE THAN DOUBLED. ARE YOU SEEING MORE GHOST GUNS BEING USED IN CRIMES AND NOT JUST SEIZURES? >> WE CONFISCATED 1200 GUNS TWO YEARS AGO AND WE ARE CLOSE TO A THOUSAND THIS YEAR AND LAST YEAR\u2019S NUMBERS, 25% OF WHAT WE SEIZED HIS GHOST GUNS. IT IS HARD TO KNOW HOW MANY OF THE GUNS ARE USED IN CRIMES. WE CAN ONLY TALK ABOUT HOW MANY WE SEIZED. YOU CAN BUY THESE KIDS AND THEY ARE NOT CONSIDERED FIREARMS UNTIL THEY ARE ASSEMBLED AND YOU DON\u2019T NEED A FIREARM CHECK. A LOT OF THE LAWS TO PROTECT PEOPLE FROM GUNS DON\u2019T APPLY TO GHOST GUNS. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE IS A LARGE AMOUNT OF GHOST GUNS OUT THERE. MIKE: LESS — LET\u2019S TAKE A LOOK AT THE CRIME DATA. THESE ARE FIREARM CRIME STATS. YEAR-TO-DATE, 294 SHOOTING CRIMES. 76 SHOOTING VICTIMS AND 618 FIREARMS SEES — SEIZED. WHEN YOU TALK TO FOLKS WHO LIVE HERE, DO YOU THINK THAT SACRAMENTO — METRO SACRAMENTO IS A RELATIVELY SAFE PLACE TO BE IN? >> I GET THAT QUESTION A LOT. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THERE HAS BEEN COVERAGE OF THESE INCIDENCES, BECAUSE IT IS AN IMPORTANT TOPIC OF THE COMMUNITY TO BE AWARE OF. WHEN YOU LOOK AT JUST — WHAT WE SEE DOWNTOWN, RESTAURANTS ARE FULL AND WE HAD A ROBUST NIGHTLIFE. 35 — 37,000 PEOPLE A DAY ATTENDED AFTERSHOCK AND THERE IS ACTIVE NIGHTLIE AND THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE IN ANY LARGE METROPOLITAN ALL –CITY. THESE ACTS ARE VIOLENCE WE SHOULD BE AWARE OF. I TALKED ABOUT HOW LAW ENFORCEMENT IS A PIECE OF THIS BUT IT IS SHARED RESPONSIBILITY BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND THE CITY AND BUSINESS LEADERS. LAST WEEK, THEY\u2019LL — THE MAYOR ANNOUNCED — SHE HAS BEEN A GREAT PARTNER FOR THE CITY AND THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND THAT IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THE COMMUNITY COMING TOGETHER TO ADDRESS CHALLENGES AND TRY TO IMPROVE PEOPLE\u2019S EXPERIENCE. MIKE: WE THANK YOU FOR Y\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Sacramento police chief to retire after 32 years in law enforcement, 4 years as chief<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\tUpdated: 2:17 PM PDT Apr 13, 2026\n\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\tEditorial Standards \u24d8<\/a><\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\tSacramento’s police chief is retiring after 32 years in law enforcement, according to a release from the city’s police department.| VIDEO BELOW | Sacramento PD Chief Kathy Lester sits down with KCRA 3, speaks on crime, safety”Serving the Sacramento community has been the honor of my career,” Kathy Lester said in a news release. “This decision comes at the right time for me and my family, and I look forward to the next chapter.Lester took the helm as chief in January 2022, inheriting a three-year uptick in violent crime. In that year, the city reported 54 homicides compared to 58 homicides in 2021. In 2025, there were 42 homicides reported.”I’m proud of the progress we’ve made over the past several years\u2014reducing violence, strengthening partnerships, and building strategies that are making a difference,” Lester said. “We’ve made real progress\u2014we didn’t just hold the line, we turned a corner. The department is in a strong position today, and I wanted to ensure that before making this decision.”In the news release, Lester announced her support for City Manager Maraskeshia Smith, who was appointed to the role in late 2025. Smith plans to appoint Deputy Chief Zachary Bales as interim chief when Lester retires May 15.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tSACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Sacramento’s police chief is retiring after 32 years in law enforcement, according to a release from the city’s police department.<\/p>\n | VIDEO BELOW | Sacramento PD Chief Kathy Lester sits down with KCRA 3, speaks on crime, safety<\/p>\n “Serving the Sacramento community has been the honor of my career,” Kathy Lester said in a news release. “This decision comes at the right time for me and my family, and I look forward to the next chapter.<\/p>\n Lester took the helm as chief in January 2022, inheriting a three-year uptick in violent crime. In that year, the city reported 54 homicides compared to 58 homicides in 2021. <\/p>\n In 2025, there were 42 homicides reported.<\/p>\n “I’m proud of the progress we’ve made over the past several years\u2014reducing violence, strengthening partnerships, and building strategies that are making a difference,” Lester said. “We’ve made real progress\u2014we didn’t just hold the line, we turned a corner. The department is in a strong position today, and I wanted to ensure that before making this decision.”<\/p>\n In the news release, Lester announced her support for City Manager Maraskeshia Smith, who was appointed to the role in late 2025. Smith plans to appoint Deputy Chief Zachary Bales as interim chief when Lester retires May 15.<\/p>\n See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EASY — EASILY. MIKE: THANK YOU SO MUCH, EILEEN. IT\u2019S BEEN ABOUT 6 MONTHS SINCE KATHERINE LESTER WAS…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266206,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2820,12032,1409,723,6848,116377,23615,134,42599,116373,734,590,5274,116374,121,123,122,116375,2734,72,116376],"class_list":{"0":"post-266205","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-app","9":"tag-chief","10":"tag-city","11":"tag-crime","12":"tag-decision","13":"tag-deputy-chief-zachary-bales","14":"tag-download","15":"tag-homicide","16":"tag-homicides","17":"tag-kathy-lester","18":"tag-law-enforcement","19":"tag-police-department","20":"tag-release","21":"tag-retires","22":"tag-sacramento","23":"tag-sacramento-headlines","24":"tag-sacramento-news","25":"tag-sacramento-police-chief","26":"tag-top-california-story","27":"tag-year","28":"tag-zachary-bales"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}