OPS chief latest casualty as developmental center scrutiny continues

Monica Lam/California Watch

The state's Office of Protective Services (OPS), the in-house police department that oversees about 90 officers at California's developmental centers, is looking for a new chief after Corey Smith received a demotion to second-in-command for the force.

David Montoya, police commander at the Porterville Developmental Center, is serving as interim chief, according to the state Department of Developmental Services’ website.


The personnel change is the latest response in Sacramento to a series of reports of lapses in care and management at the state's facilities serving the developmentally disabled.

You can read more on this move at OPS in the California Watch report, Developmental centers seek new police chief, by Ryan Gabrielson (August 16, 2012).