Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown on Wednesday welcomed former television reporter Kelly Hoover as the department’s new public information officer.
Hoover, a UCLA graduate, has worked as a television reporter in Palm Springs, for KEYT in the late 1990s, for KEZI in Eugene, Ore., and then returned to Santa Barbara in 2003. She has been doing freelance work for the Santa Barbara News-Press since 2011.
Hoover was chosen from the pool of candidates for her “energy, enthusiasm and desire for the job,” Brown said.
She will also serve as the department’s media resource specialist, organizing the department’s internal use of media.
As a journalist, she said she was always interested in law enforcement, and looks forward to using her experience to help the community, adding that she wants to continue finding better ways to get information out quickly and responsibly.
Since Drew Sugars left the PIO post last July, Sgt. Mark Williams has been filling in. Williams will be helping Hoover transition into the job.
Sugars was the department’s first civilian PIO, the result of his Video Resources Unit being combined with the Public Information Office.
Hoover can be reached at 805.681.4192 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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