Butch Arnoldi, the longest-running lieutenant in Isla Vista Foot Patrol history, spent his last day in the station yesterday. Arnoldi was reassigned as lieutenant of the Carpinteria Sheriff's Station and was replaced by Carpinteria's former lieutenant, Russell Bircham. Arnoldi, who has been with the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Dept. for 20 years, and Bircham, a 24-year veteran of the dept., were transferred due to departmental policy, which requires sheriff's lieutenant's to switch stations approximately every two years. Sheriff Jim Thomas, who has worked with both men since the early 1970s, said the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Dept. has received letters from both the I.V. and Carpinteria communities requesting the lieutenants stay in their respective communities since the transfers were announced last year. Butch stayed here a year longer than usual.
Butch is intense.
Russ is more laid back, but both get the job done in their own ways. I'm going to try to continue what Butch Arnoldi's done out here. I know for a lot of kids it's their first time out of the house, and they find freedom and there are a lot abusing alcohol. Having never worked here, I don't know what to expect, but I have raised three children and gone through college with them. Arnoldi said he has seen Isla Vista change for the better since he came to IVFP in 1997.