Santa Ana's 2019 Detective Of The Year Banned From Being A Cop, But Not From Being In The Public
SAPD's 2019 award-winner is facing charges related to pedophilic intentions. The court allowed him to remain in the public as his trial approaches. The state temporarily banned him from being a cop.
Note: This is a re-publication of a story originally shared on September 18th, 2024. It has been updated. Pre-trial hearings have been ongoing for over a year. The trial is upcoming.
Gregory Daniel Beaumarchais, Santa Ana Police Department’s 2019 Detective of the Year, has been temporarily banned from working as a police officer in the State of California. In late 2021 to early 2022, Beaumarchais sent graphic messages to someone he believed to be a child, but turned out that they were a decoy working with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The ban, officially called “decertification”, was issued by the state’s commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). It went into effect on January 31st, 2024, according to records obtained from POST.
On August 2nd, 2022, the court issued an arrest warrant for Beaumarchais. His bail was set to $500. During a hearing that afternoon, after turning himself in, the court recalled the warrant and allowed Beaumarchais to be released. He deferred his arraignment for over a year. On October 18th, 2023, he pled “not guilty”.
According to the OC Superior Court, thirteen investigative reports pertaining to Beaumarchais’ case have been kept secret, filed under seal.
Pre-trial hearings began on December 13th, 2023. The next pre-trial hearing is January 22nd, 2025.
Beaumarchais, who held the rank of corporal, was fired from the SAPD on December 8th, 2023, according to the records. SAPD originally shared a press release about Beaumarchais’ arrest but did not let the public know that an alleged pedophile they employed was released back into the public. The SAPD has not shared an update at all.
“GREGORY DANIEL BEAUMARCHAIS, motivated by an unnatural and abnormal sexual interest in children, did unlawfully engage in conduct with an adult, JANE DOE 14 who defendant believed to be a child under eighteen (18) years of age…” -the court’s warrant
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, POST has moved to decertify more than 200 police officers since its decertification powers (SB 2) went into effect in 2022. The reporting states that “in some cases basic details of the alleged misconduct are secret.”
By the time Beaumarchais had turned himself in, he had completed over 50 police training courses, none during the time period he was engaging with the person he believed to be a child (December 2021 - January 2022).
POST accepts complaints from the public regarding serious police misconduct. Complaints can be submitted here.