Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced the hiring of Jim McDonnell as the new chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. In picking McDonnell, Bass is getting a seasoned veteran as the massive security challenges of the World Cup and the Olympic Games loom, reports the Los Angeles Times.. Bass said McDonnell’s former colleagues described him as honest and “a man of integrity.” “These are essential leadership traits we will need to continue to transform the department while addressing the near and far challenges we will face in the coming years.” McDonnell, who replaces the retired Michel Moore, was often seen as the department’s public face as assistant chief under Chief William Bratton. McDonnell spent 28 years with the LAPD.
He joined the LAPD in 1981 at the age of 21 and worked his way up in patrol, detective, vice, gang, organized crime, homicide and other divisions. Twice before he applied for the chief’s job, losing out to Bratton in 2002 and Charlie Beck in 2009. He was appointed police chief of Long Beach in 2010. In 2014, he was elected Los Angeles County Sheriff, following Lee Baca, the longtime sheriff who retired under a cloud of scandals. He served one term as sheriff before being replaced by Alex Villanueva in a stunning electoral upset for a seat that hadn’t seen an incumbent lose in more than a century. McDonnell currently heads the Safe Communities Institute at the USC Price School of Public Policy. He was one of the three finalists chosen by the civilian Police Commission from a field of more than 25 applicants to lead one of the nation’s largest police departments.
Detractors say McDonnell was an effective leader as a sheriff but didn’t do enough to address the problems that surfaced during the Baca administration.
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