In a move that struck many as natural, logical and deserved while simultaneously curious given the circumstance, Barstow Police Captain Christopher Kirby has been promoted to police chief.
On paper, the 51-year-old 28-year veteran of the police department, a Barstow native son and second-generation law enforcement officer, comes across as well suited for the role of police chief.
At the same time, he has been brought in to replace his primary associate in the department, Andrew Expinoza, who was cashiered as police chief earlier this year within a cloud of mystery that suggests at the least misfeasance or negligence with overtones of mismanagement moving toward outright criminality, malfeasance, graft, corruption and bribery. No one associated with the city is willing to disclose why Espinoza, who was elevated to the role of police chief/chief public safety officer in June 2021 and was drafted in January 2024 to serve as city manager in the aftermath of Willie Hopkins’ abrupt departure to the top administrative spot in Compton, was ignominiously walked out of City Hall just days after his one-year anniversary as acting city manager.
Whatever Espinoza’s offense was, it was a serious one, so far-reaching that merely moving him out of the interim city manager’s post was not deemed sufficient and he was relieved of his title of police chief and has not been welcomed back to the department as a captain, lieutenant, sergeant, detective, corporal or even as a mere officer. Everyone at City Hall, from the lowest ranking staff members to the one at the top of the totem pole – City Manager Rochelle Clayton – is forbidden to talk about the matter upon pain of immediate dismissal.
Espinoza and Kirby were, indeed are, best friends. Both are Barstow natives and knew each other growing up. Both are the sons of law enforcement officers. In instance upon instance during their dual careers with the Barstow Police Department their names are linked.
The double covalent bonds between Espinoza and Kirby are such that Kirby occupying the department’s top office is akin to having Espinoza, who is now persona non grata there, practically in the room. Because of the connection between Espinoza and Kirby, the choice of Kirby as police chief is, for many, baffling.
Just as the city’s choice of the fired police chief’s closest friend and professional associate to succeed him as police chief, there are some contradictory elements of Kirby’s life which peg him as the model of what a police officer should be while at the same time suggest being a policeman wasn’t his calling.
Rather than graduating from Barstow High School, Kirby attended Central High, the Barstow Unified School District’s continuation high school.
A continuation high school is an alternative to a comprehensive or traditional high school, primarily for students who are considered at risk of not graduation at the normal four-year pace, for myriad reasons. While the requirements to graduate from a continuation high school are the same for graduating from a regular high school, the scheduling is more flexible to allow students to earn their credits at a slower pace and make up for time they might have missed while attending traditional school, including for having been suspended or expelled. Continuation schools are flexible public high schools designed to serve the educational needs of high school students who are not in a position to succeed on the normal path or are resistant to the strictures of most public schools. Some students in continuation schools presented disciplinary problems at the school or schools they attended previously or were otherwise unable, unwilling or unready to “get with the program” the vast majority of high school students are able to function within.
Kirby’s placement at Central High suggests, although it does not necessarily mean, that he had an independent or rebellious streak, one that might have been out of keeping with the discipline and regimentation that the profession his father was involved in entailed.
In their early teens, Kirby and Espinoza together participated in the Police Explorer program.
Whatever adjustments Kirby had to or did not have to make in his youth to prepare himself to follow in his father’s footsteps, they were completed, bypassed or irrelevant by the time he was 21, as he began his law enforcement career in 1996 with the Barstow Police Department.
He found himself completely at home in the professional policing environment. He married one of the department’s dispatchers, who went on to become a probation officer.
Payroll records show that Kirby remained with the department continuously from 1996 until the present, with the exception of 2017. Those records show that he had acceded to the rank of sergeant by 2012, was sergeant of detectives in 2015 and lieutenant in 2016, at which time he became the commander of the traffic patrol division. He became acting captain in 2021 and captain in 2022.
For a time he was the special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team commander and starting in 2022 was the administrative division commander and special response team commander.
In the statement put out by the city announcing his appointment as chief, it is noted that “he served as a special agent for BNSF [the Burlington Northern Santa Fe] Railway, where he was responsible for crime prevention, safety enforcement, and emergency response across complex transportation networks.”
In 2024, when Espinoza was installed as the acting city manager, Kirby took on the function of the de facto police chief, though the title of police chief or acting police chief was not conferred upon him, as it was anticipated that the city manager’s slot would soon be filled, and Espinoza was to remain as chief public safety officer/police chief until late 2032, at which point he would be eligible for a pension equal to this yearly salary. Kirby, recognizing at that time his professional path upward was blocked, chose to retire, as he had reached the age of 50 and was eligible to pull a pension based on his 28 years as a police officer of 84 percent of his present salary. He then went to work for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, such that his overall income increased.
One of the matters in which Espinoza and Kirby are tied together is the February 25, 2018 shooting death of Leonard Angelo Sanchez by Barstow police officers at a Barstow motel in close proximity to Sanchez’s common-law wife, Margaret Alba, and three of their children. While the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office found the killing of Sanchez, who was in possession of a knife, to be a justifiable homicide, Alba and her children sued the city while naming the officers and their supervisors, including both Espinoza and Kirby. The plaintiffs’ attorney, Jerry Steering, alleged inadequate supervision and training of the officers involved contributed to Sanchez’s shooting death, which Steering called an “overreaction.” The case was settled with a $1.3 million payout to Alba and the children.
Another incident in which both Espinoza and Kirby were directly involved was the March 31, 2021 shooting death of 60-year-old Lance Montgomery Powell at the Holiday Homes trailer park. Espinoza, then a captain and wearing his police uniform, and Kirby, then a lieutenant in a business suit, responded in Kirby’s unmarked Charger from police headquarters to a call from Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre, who had been Barstow mayor from 2012 until 2020. Hackbarth-McIntyre was at that time the manager of the Holiday Homes Trailer Park, located at 701 Montara Road, in which capacity she said she was being threatened by an armed tenant of the trailer park, identified as Powell..
Espinoza and Kirby, when they drove onto the premises of the trailer park, spotted Powell in his vehicle. They sought to confront Powell after all three got out of the two vehicles. Powell had a holster in his hand with a gun in it and went toward his trailer, according to both Espinoza and Kirby. As both Espinoza and Kirby attempted to persuade Powell to stop and speak with them, a woman came out of Powell’s trailer and engaged verbally with the officers as Powell went into the trailer and closed the door behind him. Shortly thereafter, he emerged from the trailer, armed and shooting, according to the police report of the incident. Espinoza and Kirby returned fire and Powell was shot twice in the head, once in the right shoulder from the front, once in the left upper back and once in the upper left leg. According to the forensic pathologist who examined Powell, the two shots to the head were fatal and “death occurred within seconds of these gunshot wounds.”
The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office ruled Powell’s death a justifiable homicide.
In February 2023, Espinoza, who was then the chief of police, and Kirby, then a captain, were given the medal of valor, the Barstow Police Department’s highest honor, one awarded to officers who distinguish themselves by conspicuous bravery or heroism “above and beyond the normal demands of police service.” According to the department, “To be awarded the medal of valor, an officer would have performed an act displaying extreme courage while consciously facing imminent peril.”
In presenting the awards to Espinoza and Kirby, then-Barstow City Manager Wille Hopkins said, “The fact that these officers intervened when they did most likely prevented the suspect from carrying out his threat to shoot the park manager and her assistant.”
Espinoza and Kirby were heavily involved in the Barstow Police Activities League, which, according to its charter, is dedicated to “providing a safe and nurturing environment where children can discover their potential, develop essential life skills, and cultivate a love for physical fitness and teamwork.”
Kirby was the treasurer and Espinoza was the president of the Barstow Police Activities League.
Kirby has numerous advanced law enforcement certifications covering topics including police supervision, crisis intervention and tactical operations.
“He is recognized for his steady leadership style, strong communication skills, and longstanding connection to the community he now leads,” according to the statement.
In January, when Espinoza was walked out of City Hall and locked out of the police department, Daniel Arthur, then the highest ranking member of the police department, was brought in to serve as interim police chief. Shortly thereafter, the city conducted an abbreviated recruitment of police chief applicants with a ten-day application window. The only two applicants were Kirby and former Riverside County/San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy Cliff Harris, who vied unsuccessfully for San Bernardino County Sheriff in 1994, 2014 and 2022. Arthur did not apply or compete for the job. City officials, stating that Harris’s professional law enforcement certifications were expired, not current or out of date, did not offer him an interview. Kirby, was the only candidate interviewed. Arthur is to remain with the department under Kirby, retaining the rank of captain.
Kirby will be eligible to retire with a 100 percent pension in 2030.
The Barstow Police Officers Association put out a statement in favor of Kirby’s hiring “The BPOA proudly supports Chief Kirby and we believe he will lead our department into a positive future,” the organization posted.
City Manager Rochelle Clayton said Kirby has ”dedicated his life to protecting and serving the Barstow community.”
“His deep-rooted understanding of our city’s unique public safety needs, along with his unwavering commitment to transparency and professionalism, makes him the ideal leader to guide the police department into the future,” she said.