When California Highway Patrol Capt. Cindy Pontes arrived in May 2017 to take command of the agency’s Santa Barbara office, she couldn’t have imagined the challenges that would confront her just a few months down the line.
“When I first got here, it was pretty peaceful, working along the ocean,” Pontes told Noozhawk. “It was just beautiful.”
Little did she know that the massive Thomas Fire would come roaring into the county in December, forcing her and her team to work around the clock for nearly two weeks alongside other first responders.
“It was nonstop work for 12 days for my people,” she recalled. “We were on tactical alert with no days off, working with all our first-responder partners here.”
Pontes was a fixture at the daily community briefings and press conferences that were held during the fire, her calm demeanor helping to reassure a traumatized public.
Once the Thomas Fire was corralled, a brief reprieve allowed Pontes’ staff and the community to celebrate the holidays before the deadly Montecito debris flows devastated the community again on Jan. 9, 2018.
The death and destruction from that event were almost unimaginable, and included a harrowing, near-death experience for two of her CHP officers, whose patrol vehicle was nearly swept away as a debris flow tore down Olive Mill Road.
Thankfully, she recalled, they were able to escape the torrent and warn people down the hill of the approaching peril.
Pontes and her team kicked into action again, shutting down flooded Highway 101 and working with other emergency personnel to respond to the emergency.
A major task eventually given to the CHP was to develop a plan to allow essential workers — law enforcement, medical personnel, teachers and others — to pass through the flooded areas, since there was a weeks-long complete shutdown of Highway 101.
“The CHP was instrumental in getting the transportation plan in place,” Pontes said, “to get all essential workers where they needed to be.”
Pontes said she was thrust into a role for which she had had no formal training.
“That was such a time of growth for me, where I was able to connect with so many people in the community, and give them hope that we will get through this,” said Pontes, who is leaving her local post to take a position at CHP headquarters in Sacramento.
Her last day in the Santa Barbara office will be Friday.
Pontes, who grew up in Yolo County in Northern California, will serve as the CHP’s training section commander, overseeing recruiting, field training and professional development for the agency.
At 43 years old, Pontes is a veteran CHP officer who has moved up through the ranks from her first job in central Los Angeles, but she said her decision to go into law enforcement came almost by accident.
She was going to school full time — planning to be an elementary school teacher and coach high school softball — when she met a female CHP officer while waiting at a carwash in Oceanside. The officer struck up a conversation, and asked Pontes if she had any interest in a law enforcement career.
“I said no, and she asked why not,” Pontes said. “I told her I could do it, but I didn’t want to.”
The officer persisted, suggesting that Pontes do some ride-alongs with local law enforcement agencies.
“That got me thinking, and I did some research,” she recalled.
She did several, but it was her ride-along with the CHP that ultimately convinced her: “I liked what they were doing.”
After eight years as an officer, promotions to sergeant and lieutenant took her to posts in Fresno, Los Angeles and Orange County. She was promoted to captain when she took over the Santa Barbara office.
Pontes is known for her friendly and approachable demeanor, which was regularly on display during the local disasters, and she embraces a philosophy of professionalism and public service.
“I push service-oriented policing and building up public trust in the community,” Pontes said. “We get letters from our community members, people on vacation, etc., because of the service we provide.”
As examples, she recalled a time when an officer encountered an elderly couple whose vehicle had broken down on their way to a doctor’s appointment. The officer assisted them in getting to their destination. Or the time when an officer sat with a mother, comforting her after her son had committed suicide.
She calls these “nuggets of excellence and care,” and regularly reminds her staff that their job, first and foremost, is to serve the community.
Pontes said she is troubled by the negative perceptions — locally and across the country — that some people have toward law enforcement.
“You can get caught up in the negativity of all the stuff that’s out there right now,” Pontes said.
In response, she urges her officers to “go out and prove to the community that they need us. We’re there to keep them safe.”
She said she believes that many of the troubling incidents reported across the country are because of inadequate policies and training.
“It’s a national issue,” she said. “California is extremely well trained … but some other states don’t have that, and law enforcement as a whole is judged by what happens there … . I would love to see national policies and national training for law enforcement to the level we get here in California. We are much better trained.”
Asked about the most difficult aspect of her job, Pontes points to something nearly all first-responders face.
“The most challenging situations are just dealing with the plight of the human heart,” she said. “Sometimes, where we have fatal collisions … family members roll up on the scene. It’s just gut-wrenching to see them in such traumatic situations.”
The key for officers in getting through those, she said, “is being a professional but also being human.”
Pontes will be leaving Santa Barbara County soon with her family — husband Tom, a CHP sergeant in the Buellton office, and their 9-year-old son. But she will be taking along some fond memories.
“Out of the four counties that I’ve worked in, this has by far been the best,” she said. “The collaborations, community partners and community support have all been amazing.”
She also is effusive about the men and women she has worked with locally.
“You guys are in amazing hands with the local CHP officers,” she said. “They are the most amazing group of officers, with serving hearts, and they really do care about the community they serve.”
Pontes’ replacement has not yet been named, but most likely will be someone like herself — promoted into a new leadership role.
Her advice to that person?
“Continue to be completely engaged in the community,” she said. “Treat people well. That’s the recipe for success.”
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.