Eight members of The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department were promoted Monday in a ceremony at the sheriff’s training bureau.
“The caliber and quality of our people is such that the competition for promotion is always very tough,” Sheriff Bill Brown said at the ceremony. “Those who emerge successfully from this rigorous process are to be congratulated and that is what today is all about.”
The promotions included a forensic supervisor, a sheriff’s sergeant, three custody sergeants, two custody lieutenants and a custody commander. Most of the eight have been with the sheriff’s office for more than a decade.
Born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, new forensic supervisor Nancy Fabela has been with the sheriff’s office for 20 years.
“It’s been great,” she said.
“There’s never a day that is dull. I’ve gotten to do a lot of great things, work a lot of cases that really are satisfying,” she told the News-Press.
Ms. Fabela is a UCSB graduate and was hired by the sheriff’s office in 1999 as an extra help clerk in the Forensics Unit. She rose through the ranks as a crime scene technician and was instrumental in creating a two-year forensics unit in-house training program for all new crime scene technicians.
Ms. Fabela also teaches crime scene investigations at Allan Hancock College and is a black belt in American Kenpo. Ms. Fabela is the sheriff’s office’s first civilian forensic supervisor. The promotion is part of an effort to bring more longevity and consistency to the position, said Ms. Fabela.
New Custody Lt. Bobby Cobb Jr. has been with the sheriff’s office 25 years, the longest of all of Monday’s promotees.
He started working in the Main Jail as a corrections officer his assignments since then include Classification Unit, Main Jail, compliance officer in the Administration Unit and Transportation Unit. Through the years he has received many letters of commendation for his efforts.
Ryan Sullivan, a 13-year-veteran of the sheriff’s office, was promoted to custody commander. Custody Cmdr. Sullivan has held a variety of assignments during his career including the Classification Unit, Transportation Unit, Risk Assessment Unit and the Special Operations Response Team.
Scott Chapman, Ronald Sanders, and Gina Cecchetto were each promoted to custody sergeant. Sgt. Sanders and Sgt. Chapman have been with the sheriff’s office for more than 12 years, and Sgt. Cecchetto has worked for the department for six.
Selim Celmeta, an 11-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, was promoted to custody lieutenant. He most recently was assigned as a resources coordinator at the Santa Barbara County Jail.
Seth Woodill was promoted to sergeant after 14 years with the sheriff’s office for 14 years. Sgt. Woodill has worked as a patrol deputy in the Carpinteria and Goleta stations as well as at the Central and Santa Maria stations. He has also worked as a bailiff and was a member of the first AB109 Community Response Team. He is currently assigned to the Isla Vista Foot Patrol.
