As most readers know, on Friday morning, Oct 4, Mayor Karen Bass announced her selection of former LA County Sheriff Jim McDonnell as the next chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.
McDonnell was one of three finalists chosen by the city’s police commission, out of more than two dozen applicants.
Of the three left in the finals, however, no one came close to having the depth and breadth of McDonnell’s experience in law enforcement, which appeared to strongly affect the mayor’s choice.
Yet, a notable number of LAPD watchers we spoke with questioned whether it was the best decision to choose a white guy to head up the nation’s third largest police department, with its diverse constituency.
McDonnell came close to being the chief fifteen years ago in November 2009, when then mayor Antonio Villaraigosa chose between another three finalists: McDonnell, Mike Moore, and Charlie Beck, with McDonnell and Beck appearing to be the top two.
Obviously it was Beck who was selected that year.
When Beck announced his retirement in January 2018, McDonnell was beginning his fourth year as LA County Sheriff, and Mayor Eric Garcetti selected Moore out of that year’s threesome picked by the police commissioners.
Fast forward to January 2024, when Chief Moore announced his retirement. Finally, McDonnell was again free to apply for the position of chief, which had always been his dream job. And Mayor Bass decided he was her guy.
There is, of course, much more to the story, which we’ll explore in a follow-up to this quickie news brief.
So watch this space.
So.
Jim McDonnell is getting rehired bt the City of L.A.
But A.V. by the County of L.A.?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/federal-judge-tosses-suit-ex-100023833.html
Rakkasan:
Jim McDonnell is a real winner as evidenced by his track record.
For the record witn all due respect, if any, Alex is completely finished.
County taxpayers will pay millions because of his ineptness and allowing goons at East Los Angeles Station to fester.
Hopefully all of Villanueva’s former stakeholders (including ALADS) have learned a valuable but costly lesson.
Congratulations to McDonnell. He is a good man who tried his best to clean up decades of troubles in a mere four years. Being his student at USC showed his heart is in the right place.
There will be well wishers and nay sayers in regards to this man’s promotion to Chief of L. A. P. D. As for me, my decision is based on his performance. First of all the man had no regards for fiscal responsibility. First, approximately $300k to replace the Sam Browne belt keepers and belt buckles. My understanding that the reason for this was to “enhance the Deputy’s command presence.” Second, McD by-passed the procurement process in order for him to get an SUV because he did not have enough room to do his work in the back seat of the Dodge Charger (not certain as to the validity of this claim). Third, he wanted to change the department motto “A tradition of service” on every patrol car. Are these fiscally sound enhancements?
The other disturbing command decision he made was to allow Ms. Diana Tehran access to all of the Deputy’s personnel files. My understanding of this was done in an effort to look for personnel who may have had a tarnished episode in their career, which would allow her to seek disciplinary action. Further, his direction was to fire the Deputies and to let them fight to get their job back.
I understand that he wanted to “clean up” the mess, however to seek retribution on the Deputies by firing them and then having them “fight to get their jobs back.” To me, this type of behavior is not a positive sign of a leader.
In addition, McD had his focus on the line personnel, however lost sight of his executive staff and not truly holding them accountable.
I have a feeling McD will do to LAPD command staff, what AV did to LASD command staff.
But hey, that is just me putting in my two cents worth.
Chief McDonnell has the confidence and backing of those who matter, including the citizens of Los Angeles.
@LA County Voter,
If you thought McD was bad, the VILLAN was a shit show. The Department will pay for his F***ups for the next ten 10 years. How many millions in lawsuits is too much .. and the VILLAN also asked for a new Tahoe too. What about the costs of the security detail at the VILLAN’s house. What about the costs associated with that. I can keep going….
@ Wendy Byrde….. I am not defending the “VILLAN” at all and am not aware of his shenanigans. Please enlighten me and the others who may not be in the know as to what the “VILLAN” did / done..
@ L.A. County Voter,
You exposed yourself lying about not knowing the mis deeds of the “VILLAN”. Dude, really!
It doesn’t matter as his future appearances will only be in court defending himself with many lawsuits. 🙂
@Factoid….. I heard of some misdeeds. However, it appears that Ms. Wendy Byrde may know more, which is why I asked.
So if he has to defend himself in court, so be it. That is because of his decisions.
Mayor’s LAPD Chief Pick is Being Lauded By Rank & File Cops and Community https://lamag.com/news/mayors-lapd-chief-pick-is-being-lauded-by-rank-file-cops-and-community
Considering I am now working under my fifth sheriff for LASD, I have a good enough understanding to give “my two cents” on the matter:
All of the shenanigans done by McDonnell were not of his choosing while Sheriff. The majority of things implemented by him were agreements made by Baca in the 11th hour in a feeble attempt to save face. Sadly, Tanaka’s reign and power will always overshadow the mediocre job Baca did in his time at the helm.
Is McDonnell a politician? Of course he is… but considering he was an outsider, the first outsider to take the helm in over a century; he had to be. A century…. that’s more than 3X the average career of a deputy in LASD’s rank & file. With overlapping, that is basically 5+ generations where the largest sheriff’s department in the nation went unchecked… operating solely on their misguided understanding of what the working relationship should be like with the communities they serve.
We (LASD) went several generations where we allowed bad apples to sit amongst us… and by us I reference three different types of lawmen. The first, as mentioned are the bad apples. Though they were/are few & far between….they do indeed exist. Second, the “cruise control” crowd. In case you are unaware of what that means, I’m talking about the type that doesn’t want to make waves… they just want to take the path of least resistance, no matter the outcome. Last are the Marchers…. and I am referencing the late great David March whose creed was:
“ My goals are simple, I will always be painfully HONEST, work as hard as I can, LEARN as much as I can and hopefully MAKE A DIFFERENCE in people’s lives.”
Sadly, March’s Creed doesn’t resonate within today’s line staff like it once did… but it is still there… and is still cherished by us few who continue to do the right thing, no matter the cost… even if that means career suicide like Rosa Gonzalez.
Was McDonnell perfect? Absolutely not. But he inherited 150 years of tradition which devolved into nepotism and nonsense. I commend him for trying to right at least some things while at the helm. Were deputies fired? Yep. Did those who deserved their jobs back get reinstated? Yep. Did it rid us of some bad apples in the long run and serve as a stark example that we cannot/should not police like the gestapo? Absolutely.
It didn’t matter who came after McDonnell, those deputies who warranted their jobs back got them due to their own efforts via civil service… and yet AV loves to take credit.
So in the end, was McDonnell perfect? No. AV, absolutely not…. and Luna isn’t firing on all cylinders either… which leads me to believe the good ol’ boys club is still alive and well within the upper ranks within LASD.
I commend McDonnell for trying; but I hope he digs a little deeper back at LAPD to find those lawmen…. the ones who want to enact positive, lasting changes within the rank and file.
@ T.O.S., Well stated.
Those who stood up for doing the right thing in LASD were usually ostracized and condemned.
I applaud all of the true unsung warriors who were unnoticed but can sleep at night with no regrets.
@LASD CLASS #200
We are still fighting… and yes we are ostracized, blacklisted….. in the end, none of this will change, unless those that LASD answers to want it to. This means they too are part of the problem. Until it is remedied from that perspective, the Good Ol’ Boys Club will continue to operate modus operandi, continuing to avoid taking ownership/responsibility.
@Wendy, So from after Block who do/did you want to be Sheriff? Throw out a name of someone who ran or was Sheriff.
@T.O.S. same question.
Just seems everyone complains on that department but no good candidates?
McDonnell, no doubt, has higher political ambitions. To go from the autonomy of being an elected sheriff, to being the water boy for the mayor and city council–a collective political entity akin to the Politbureau–can not be rewarding. The LAPD chief position got emasculated years ago after Darryl Gates’s tenure so the only upside here (besides the prestige and paycheck), would be to use the position as a springboard for higher office.
As far as McDonnell’s years as sheriff: I think he’s gotten bad rap. The headhunting and mass firings occurring on his watch were carried out by nervous executives with itchy trigger fingers who assumed this was the direction the new sheriff wanted to take the department. The vast majority of those investigations were launched without his knowledge by overzealous and weak kneed division chiefs. I can attest to personally witnessing more than one termination case that had no business going beyond a five-day suspension. In many cases, investigations were not warranted in the first place. Those days reminded me of the ridiculous defund-the-police pendulum swing that left wing politicians embraced after George Floyd. Knee-jerk pandering at its finest, in both instances.
@Z Man- most recent ideal leader would’ve been Bob Lindsey. The extreme vast majority of deps backed him initially… and ALADS did what they’re notorious for doing, which is whatever they want; as long as it’s for the betterment of their working relationship with LASD.
Z man,
Mark Lillienfeld –
@ Tradition Of Service – your last post was the perfect portrait of what could have been and why it didn’t happen. Those who know, know.
,
@Factoid-
I’ve interacted with ALADS enough in nearly 20 years to wholeheartedly wonder why we pay what we pay into the union. I’ve had representation, but they do little to nothing. While I can say I remain somewhat unscathed, I’ve seen them constantly underperform when defending deputies in investigations. I’ve seen the department botch several cases, each which the deputies got their jobs back along with back pay…. but at what cost? Where is morale right now? Where is the trust? It’s eroded… it has died on the vine and no one seems to know how to fix it. The only more disappointing than that is the fact the strongest relationship in the county right now is between our elected union members and our executive staff.
LASPA is looking better by the day.
Just caught a typo…. morale
So much for a “smart” phone. I might’ve caught that if I wasn’t working mandated OT.
Editor’s note:
Dear “Tradition of Service,
All fixed. Autocorrect often has a mind of its own, I find.
C.
10 years ago, Jim McDonnell was Sheriff of Los Angeles County.
10 years later, Jim McDonnell now Police Chief of Los Angeles Police Department.
Alex Villanueva & Ron Hernandez, here’s looking at you. 🙂