Grover Beach gets a new police chief, more public safety funding 

With a federal cash infusion worth $543,000, Grover Beach can update public safety cameras around the city.

"It will allow us to put some new reader systems to help solve crime and allow us to put some new cameras up—both license plates and just straight-up video cameras because some cameras have been up for several years and are kind of at the end of their life and need to be replaced, but those can be up to $5,000 per camera," Grover Beach Police Department Cmdr. Jim Munro said. "It'll also allow us to put in some new in-car video with license plate reader technology inside our patrol cars and allow us to purchase a few multibands."

Munro said multiband radios are basically walkie-talkies or a two-way radio for command staff that allows them to speak with every agency in the county, such as fire departments and ambulance services, in case of emergencies.

Grover Beach was only one spot in SLO County that received money for community projects through a government spending deal that President Joe Biden recently signed in to law, according to U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal's (D-Santa Barbara) office. The county received more than $4 million, including $2 million for the SLO County Sheriff's Office to help replace its aging dispatch center, $1 million for water resources reliability in Oceano, and $850,000 to complete a bike and pedestrian path in the Edna Valley.

On July 1, Munro will leave his current role as commander and take over as police chief following John Peters' retirement.

"I'm really excited and glad to be the person to take over and kind of keep our department moving in the right and positive direction," Munro told New Times.

Grover Beach City Manager Matthew Bronson told New Times that Munro's management experience, educational and professional development backgrounds, and dedication to the community made him the ideal candidate.

"I look forward to working with him to ensure the continued safety and well-being of our residents," he said. "I also wanted to extend my gratitude to our retiring police chief, John Peters, for his exemplary service to our community. Chief Peters' leadership and commitment to public safety have made a lasting impact on Grover Beach."

Munro said the good news about internal promotions is that he's already had the opportunity to work with fellow department members and with Peters to effect some change over the last few years, and he feels like they're currently in a good spot.

"The department is running full speed on all cylinders right now, so there's not going to be any huge wholesale changes," he said.

Munro said with four new police officers and two police trainees, the department is also searching for a new police officer and commander to join the team.

In addition to the technology upgrades, Munro said he's going to continue working on enhancing the police department's community outreach, especially with Grover Beach's Spanish-speaking residents.

"We'll be looking at potentially doing some more social media in Spanish and hosting some 'coffee with the cops' in areas of the community where there's more Hispanic populations," he said. "We also have some real things planned for the summer. We're going to be doing a really cool summer drone pilot academy where we're going to teach kids how to fly drones."

Munro said the drone academy will be July 22 through the 25, and kids will be able to fly drones through obstacle courses and pretend they're a police officer. The event is currently in the planning stage, but Munro said community members can expect to see updates soon. Δ