By Camas Frank

San Luis Obispo’s police chief may be on the way out, after being placed on paid administrative leave last week by the city manager.
An email sent to media outlets by Assistant City Manager, Michael Codron, at 4:39 p.m. Friday, May 8 confirmed earlier reports that Police Chief Steve Gesell, “is on paid administrative leave for an indeterminate period of time. Captain Chris Staley will be Acting Police Chief until further notice.”
The email cited the privacy of employees as a reason for no further information being released. As law enforcement, Gesell would be covered under the “Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights.”
Chief Gesell has been under public scrutiny for several events over the past year, including police response or lack of response to the infamous “St. Fratty’s Day” party in March that resulted in eight significant injuries when a garage roof collapsed under the weight of dozens of partygoers.
Chief Gesell later told the SLO City Council that the party caught him completely off-guard, with only five officers on duty when he was called in the middle of the night.
Information later came to light that fraternities not involved in the event had warned Cal Poly’s student affairs office that a party involving thousands of students might take place but that information was not forwarded until after the party.
In speaking to the City Council March 17, Chief Gesell said he had taken part in riot suppression, “in another life” and never wanted to do it again, with one of his primary concerns when coming to the City was, “that this Community not experience another riot.”
In December 2014, Chief Gesell drew ire from local citizens for his stance on police-citizen relations that were included in a December op-ed article that was published in SLO City News and The Tribune, regarding the circumstances leading to riots in Ferguson, Mo.
His primary opinion was that the police shooting of Michael Brown was justified based on the narrative provided by the officer at the scene. He also disputed that race is a motivating factor in the myriad of similar stories.
Third on the list of what could considered serious errors in judgment, Chief Gesell has been asked to repay travel expenses to the City of SLO, including receipts he charged to City accounts while traveling with his family in Florida.
Chief Gesell is reported to have attended three times more meetings and conferences in 2014 than any other police chief in SLO County.
Under the City’s charter, City Manager Katie Lichtig has the final word on the hiring and firing of department heads. She did not respond to request for comment before deadline, and she has refused to comment to any other news outlets in SLO County.