James T. Butts Jr.

James T. Butts, Jr. (born August 1, 1953) is the 12th and current Mayor of the City of Inglewood, California. He is the 4th African-American Mayor of the City of Inglewood. Previously he served the City of Inglewood for 19 years where he received several promotions until he was sworn in as Deputy Chief of Police for the City of Inglewood. In September 1991 he was sworn in as Chief of Police for the City of Santa Monica, California serving from 1991 to 2006.

Inglewood PD integration history: On February 3, 1969, Harold P. Moret became Inglewood's first black police officer. A full year later Jimmy Lee Worsham became the second. He was followed by Barbara Harris, the first black female officer, then Otis Hendricks, Melvin Lovelace and Eugene Lindsey. The 7th black officer in the history of the City of Inglewood was James T. Butts, Jr. He would become Inglewood's first black Motorcycle Traffic Enforcement Officer, 1st Black Lieutenant, Captain and only black Deputy Chief in the history of the Department. Butts would leave Inglewood in September of 1991 at the age of 38 to become the first person of color to command the Santa Monica Police Department as Chief of Police, and the youngest ever to do so. 20 years later, on February 1, 2011 James Butts would return serve the City of Inglewood by being elected mayor.

In August 2006 James T. Butts Jr. was appointed to the position of Deputy Executive Director for Public Safety for the Los Angeles World Airports.

Mayor James T. Butts, Jr. is a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona where he received an MBA in June 1994. He was a California State University-Los Angeles (CSULA) graduate with a Bachelor's Degree before earning his MBA. He also holds a number of command and management certificates from the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). He is a graduate of the POST Command College and a past president of the Peace Officers Association of Los Angeles County. He has received several certifications and training from the National Incident Management System - Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Mr. Butts served for 19 years in the City of Inglewood Police Department (IPD) from 1972 to 1991. During 1986 the then Captain Butts was a pioneer in using community-based policing concepts to suppress crime and disorder. He developed and commanded a task force in the summer of 1986 that obliterated street narcotics trafficking in the City resulting in nearly 900 arrests with a 92% conviction rate. In 1991 Chief Butts became the youngest chief of police in Southern California when he was sworn in at the age of 38 as the Chief of Police for the City of Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD). Mr. Butts served for 15 years from 1991 to 2006 as Chief. During his service as Chief, the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) also adopted the concepts of Community-Based Policing. When Chief Butts left the City of Santa Monica, he had slashed the Part I crime rate (UCR) by 64%. The only year on record when he left in December of 2006 when crime was lower was 1956, the first year crime statistics were archived for the City of Santa Monica. When he retired, he left a City (Santa Monica) notorious upon his arrival for its struggles with homelessness, disorder and crime a safe and thriving international tourist destination. In 2006 Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) named Mr. James T. Butts, Jr. its newly established Deputy Executive Director for Public Safety (DED), an Assistant General Manager position. Director Butts was issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) an intelligence classification of Secret. While serving as the leader of the LAWA police and security forces Mr. Butts served as the intergovernmental counterterrorism liaison. In 2009, Los Angeles International Airport was named the #1 most secure airport in the United states by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

His campaign for Mayor of the City of Inglewood, California began in March 2010, and after a close and difficult campaign against the incumbent Mayor Daniel K Tabor he was elected to become the fourth African America Mayor of Inglewood. After defeating Mr. Tabor in a City of Inglewood Special Municipal Runoff Election on January 11, 2011 the City of Inglewood Mayoral race results were certified by the Inglewood City Council on January 25, 2011. He took office February 1, 2011.

As incoming Mayor of the City of Inglewood, Mayor Butts faced the most difficult fiscal budgets in the history of the City of Inglewood. After inheriting a $17.6 million dollar structural deficit, Mayor Butts balanced the budget and has overseen two consecutive financially balanced budgets. In 2012, Mayor James Butts negotiated a development agreement with Madison Square Gardens of New York that resulted in the purchase of the Forum by MSG from Faithful Central Bible Church. The Forum will re-open January 15, 2014. The initial act will be The Eagles. The purchase and anticipated reopening of this iconic entertainment and sports venue was quickly followed by an influx of investor capital (over $180 million dollars) into the Hollywood Park Tomorrow project, a proposed $2 billion dollar development. In 2013, Mayor Butts negotiated an agreement with Los Angeles World Airports to restore lost Residential Sound Insulation funding. The City of Inglewood is on pace to insulate 1,000 homes by May of 2014. In 2013, Mayor Butts coordinated the travel of the Space Shuttle Endeavour through the streets of Inglewood enroute to its final home at the Science Center in Los Angeles. The shuttle stopped at the Forum on Manchester Blvd where the largest outdoor event in the history of Inglewood (estimated 20,000+ persons) was held to greet the Shuttle and the astronauts that piloted her.

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