Watsonville Police Chief Hits The Street One Last Time

WATSONVILLE-Watsonville police Chief Manny Solano will end his more than 30-year career in law enforcement with a motorcade Wednesday afternoon.

Before starting his retirement, Solano will take his last drive around the city at 3:30 p.m. in a send-off organized by the Watsonville Police Officers Association.

The route will start behind police headquarters on Central Avenue then continue on northbound Main Street, South Green Valley Road and southbound state Highway 1. Members of other local law enforcement agencies are expected to participate in the motorcade.

Solano started getting involved with the department as a high school senior under the guidance of teachers and police officers. He became a police explorer cadet in 1982 and a reserve officer two years later while simultaneously going to college and volunteering as a community service officer in Santa Cruz.

He attended Cabrillo College in Aptos and Gavilan College in Gilroy before obtaining his bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Bethany University in Scotts Valley, which closed in 2011.

He also took undergraduate classes at the University of Virginia and graduated in 1999 from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

Solano was a full-time officer with Santa Cruz police in 1985 and came back to Watsonville police in 1987.

He has worked on many assignments including field training, narcotics, gangs and investigations. He has worked his way up the ranks as a patrol officer, corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, captain and deputy chief before becoming police chief.

Solano, his wife Megan and three sons have supported many nonprofits including Grace Harbor Homeless Shelter, Freedom Women’s Recovery Center and Kidpower, police said.

He is from Pajaro Valley, where his family has lived for three generations.

During his spare time he goes to church, works out at the gym and restores the family’s 1962 Buick convertible.

He has also taken an interest in videography, with some of his work airing on local television and the shows “COPS” and “Real TV,” according to police.

-Bay City News