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By Ann K. Williams
Lookout Staff

October 5, 2011 -- After five years leading the Santa Monica Police Department, Chief Timothy Jackman will retire in December.

He will stay on as Interim Chief until March to give the city time to recruit his replacement, Department Information Officer Richard Lewis told The Lookout Tuesday.

Jackman will talk to the press Wednesday about the details of his retirement, Lewis said.

When Jackman took the reins in 2007, he promoted his passion for community policing by example, making a point of walking the city's neighborhoods, shaking hands and getting to know people.

His officers and the city's residents got to know his down-to-earth, self-deprecating sense of humor as he put a friendly face on the police department.

Known for delegating, Jackman trusted his officers to do their jobs.

The press has gotten to know him as a forthcoming source of honest information and reliable statistics. Under his watch, crime has dropped in Santa Monica.

Jackman came to Santa Monica from Long Beach, where he served as Deputy Police Chief.

There, he had a strong background in finance and budget management, and was known for having made innovative strides in tackling Long Beach’s youth crime and homeless problems.

As Chief of Santa Monica's Police Department, Jackman has overseen leading-edge programs that take social workers and officers to befriend the homeless on the streets and help them overcome their problems.

He's worked closely with youth – with the Boys and Girls Club, the school district, the Pico Youth and Family Center, and the Police Athletic League – and has trained his officers in addressing the kinds of domestic violence that underlie juvenile crime.

“I can’t believe we found one person with such a broad breath of experience in a multitude of areas,” Lamont Ewell, the City Manager who brought Jackman to Santa Monica, said when the chief was first hired. “I think he is an incredibly intelligent and forward-looking individual. He’s a great guy.”

Jackman replaced former Chief James T. Butts, who went on to serve as head of security at LAX and then was elected Mayor of Inglewood.