{"id":266604,"date":"2026-04-14T02:42:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T02:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/266604\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T02:42:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T02:42:27","slug":"sacramento-police-chief-kathy-lester-retires-after-32-years-in-law-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/266604\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester retires after 32 years in law enforcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

(FOX40.COM) \u2014\u00a0The Sacramento Police Department announced the retirement of Police Chief Kathy Lester, who has been working in law enforcement for 32 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cServing the Sacramento community has been the honor of my career. This decision comes at the right time for me and my family, and I look forward to the next chapter.\u201d Chief Lester said in a statement Monday. \u201cI\u2019m proud of the progress we\u2019ve made over the past several years\u2014reducing violence, strengthening partnerships, and building strategies that are making a difference. We\u2019ve made real progress\u2014we didn\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"kathy<\/a><\/p>\n

Kathy Lester will head the Sacramento Police Department as its first female police chief, the city announced Friday.<\/p>\n

Lester\u2019s final day as chief of police will be May 15, police said. Sacramento City Manager Maraskeshia Smith will appoint Deputy Chief Zachary Bales as interim chief of police to ensure operations continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am confident in Interim Chief Bales\u2019 ability to lead the department and ensure continuity during this transition,\u201d Smith said in a statement. \u201cHe brings experience, leadership and a deep understanding of this organization and community.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the announcement, Lester expressed support for Smith and said, \u201cWe have worked closely together, and I have full confidence in her leadership and in the direction of the organization moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Smith thanked Lester for her years of service.<\/p>\n

\u201cChief Lester has dedicated more than three decades to public service and has led the Sacramento Police Department with professionalism, integrity, and a strong commitment to community safety,\u201d Smith said. \u201cUnder her leadership, the department has made meaningful progress in reducing violence and strengthening partnerships across our city. I appreciate Chief Lester\u2019s leadership and her commitment to ensuring a strong and stable transition for the department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lester was sworn in as Sacramento\u2019s first female police chief<\/a> on March 17, 2022.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(FOX40.COM) \u2014\u00a0The Sacramento Police Department announced the retirement of Police Chief Kathy Lester, who has been working in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[116498,116373,121,123,122,9113],"class_list":{"0":"post-266604","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-chief-lester","9":"tag-kathy-lester","10":"tag-sacramento","11":"tag-sacramento-headlines","12":"tag-sacramento-news","13":"tag-sacramento-police-department"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266604","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=266604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}