A jury this week found that the University of California did not retaliate against a UC Santa Barbara police officer who resigned in 2017 and sued alleging misconduct in 2019. 

They did find, however, that Ryan Smith, now an assistant chief for the law enforcement branch of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, reported improper governmental activity and made those communications in good faith. 

Smith is one of several police officers who sued the university between 2018 and 2021, alleging department misconduct, retaliation and violations of the California Whistleblower Act.

Several of the pending lawsuits were consolidated last month and the trial for them started this week.  

Smith’s lawyer did not respond to a Noozhawk request for comment. The university did not provide a comment by the publication deadline. 

Smith took the stand several times during the early June trial, testifying that he had witnessed multiple incidents of misconduct by UCSB Police Department officers while employed at the department. 

Smith and his lawyer alleged that officers made racist comments; accessed confidential victim information and inappropriately contacted victims of sexual assault for cases they were not involved in; made inappropriate comments about victims of sexual assault; discouraged an officer mentally affected by the 2014 Isla Vista shootings from filing a workers’ compensation claim; played video games while on duty; and spent an inappropriate amount of time in the UCSB dorms, among other incidents.

Before leaving, Smith was a “dynamic police officer” who had good evaluations, his lawyer said. 

Smith left the department because he felt it was unsafe for him to remain in that workplace and claimed none of the complaints he made were investigated, his lawyer said during the trial.

University of California attorneys argued at trial that although the UC Police Department was not a “perfect workplace,” the university did not retaliate against Smith.

They also argued that the “vast majority” of Smith’s allegations were “disagreements among co-workers” and not formal complaints.

Smith himself had been accused of several incidents of misconduct outlined in the other lawsuits filed by current and former UCSB Police officers. Those allegations include time card fraud and misusing department funds to visit a subordinate officer he was allegedly having an affair with, among others.

That subordinate officer later sued the department for alleged sexual harassment, discrimination, and violations of the California Whistleblower Act in a case that was settled out of court in 2024.