COMMANDER'S MESSAGE
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West Los Angeles Area Commander, Captain Henry J. Castillo, is a 30-year veteran of the CHP. From childhood, Captain Henry J. Castillo dreamed of a career in law enforcement. Captain Castillo was born and raised in Harlingen, Texas and always did the right thing in his youth as he was a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, and ultimately President of his Pre-Law Club when he graduated from Harlingen High School. Immediately upon graduation, Captain Castillo moved to Southern California in the summer of 1988 to work. While waiting to meet the age requirements for his career with the California Highway Patrol, he attended Chaffey Community College in Rancho Cucamonga as well as attending Utah Valley Community College.
In May of 1994, Captain Castillo began his career as a CHP Cadet in West Sacramento. Upon graduation, he promoted to Traffic Officer and was assigned to the “Mighty 590” Central Los Angeles Area in October of 1994. Captain Castillo enjoyed working this diverse area and quickly became a Field Training Officer and Officer In Charge. After spending several years at Central Los Angeles Area, Captain Castillo transferred to the Rancho Cucamonga Area in 1998, where he worked road patrol covering the major Inland Empire traffic corridor surrounding the Ontario International Airport.
In 2001, Captain Castillo was assigned to Inland Division as a Public Affairs Officer in the El Protector Program where he played an integral part in educating the community in traffic safety, child safety seats and was a television and radio media liaison for newsworthy events. In 2002, Captain Castillo promoted to Sergeant and was assigned to the Baldwin Park Area where he spent 10 years as both a Field and Administrative Sergeant supervising officers and administrative staff.
In 2011 he transferred to the San Bernardino Area where he spent four years as a Field and Administrative Sergeant and became an integral member of the Departments Peer Support Program. In 2014, Captain Castillo transferred to the West Los Angeles Area where he was the senior Field Sergeant and covered a multitude of collateral duty assignments. In 2017, Captain Castillo transferred back to the Rancho Cucamonga Area where he spent time as the senior Field Sergeant overseeing road patrol and ultimately performed the role of Acting Lieutenant.
In January 2020, he promoted to Lieutenant and was assigned where he began his career at the Central Los Angeles Area, where over the next four years, he performed Field Operations Lieutenant duties and Executive Lieutenant duties. In addition, he handled Critical Incident Investigation Team duties as Team leader, handled many assignments as Acting Commander during multiple protests and civil unrest in Downtown Los Angeles, as well as overseeing the command as the primary Covid-19 Color Administrator during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
On January 1, 2024, Captain Castillo promoted to the West Los Angeles Area where he is currently assigned and is responsible for 102 uniformed and 10 professional staff employees. Captain Castillo states, “In addition to our freeway jurisdiction, West Los Angeles Area encompasses a variety of diverse unincorporated communities such as Athens, Windsor Hills, Baldwin Hills, Lennox, and Marina Del Rey. In addition, we cover the freeway access points to the Los Angeles International Airport, most of all Los Angeles County beach cities, University of California Los Angeles campus as well as multiple sporting and concert venues such as SoFi Stadium, Kia Forum and Intuit Dome. It is my honor and I feel humbled to lead the people of the West Los Angeles CHP command and to be able to serve the members of the public, my allied agency partners, key contacts, venues and the members of the community.”
Captain Castillo has attained Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Supervisory, and Management certificates from the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). Captain Castillo is a graduate of POST Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Course as well as being a member of several associations including National Latino Peace Officers Association, Peace Officers Association Los Angeles County, and the California Association of Highway Patrolmen.
