City staff and residents celebrated new Los Altos Police Chief Angela Averiett at her swearing-in ceremony Thursday.
Filled with colleagues and friends from Averiett’s decades-long law enforcement career, the Grand Oak Room at the Los Altos Community Center was standing room only. Local dignitaries in attendance included Los Altos City Council members, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen and a representative from U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo’s office.
Along with the usual acknowledgments for family, mentors and friends, Averiett’s speech included a quote she’d been sent via email a few days into her tenure.
“To be a Jedi, Padawan, is to face the truth, and choose,” she said, quoting Yoda. “Be a candle or the night, Padawan, but choose!”
She encouraged the audience to seek the light, and the police force to “serve with grace, transparency, dignity and equity.”
Just under one month on the job, Averiett is already making an impact in Los Altos.
“I can share that there has already been a marked difference in the morale of our staff,” said Capt. Katie Krauss of the Los Altos Police Department.
City Manager Gabriel Engeland spoke warmly of Averiett in his remarks as well. He recounted that Averiett was the first candidate he spoke with, an hourlong conversation that he said left him wanting to cancel the search. Ultimately, a group of community panels agreed unanimously that Averiett was the person for the job, Engeland added.
Averiett also thanked 1990s-era Los Altos Police Chief Lucy Carlton for “paving a path for me when she didn’t even know she was doing it.”
