Lt. James Royal—known to most of Malibu as Jim—spent many years hard at work facilitating communication between the city and the local sheriff’s station. As the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station Malibu Liaison, Royal’s job involved showing up to Malibu events and being the face of the department around town, but his work went above and beyond the job description.
In his nomination, which was signed by six former Malibu mayors, Royal was described as “not a yes man, but someone who always looked for answers and listened to various opinions. He could be relied upon to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to the not infrequent problems that often arise in our unique community.”
Recently, Royal was transferred to a station outside Malibu, but his legacy in town led to his nomination.
“Whenever there was an emergency of any kind, Jim Royal was there, cool and calm under pressure. During the Woolsey Fire, he went above and beyond working around the clock for our community. He led the Beach Team every year insuring the safety of our millions of summer visitors,” his nomination described. It later added: “everyone in Malibu likes him, and that is a nearly impossible feat!”