Mayor Villaraigosa to select LAPD chief Tuesday

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s expected to name a new police chief Tuesday. Bill Bratton’s last day on the job was Saturday.

If you were to imagine a friendly neighborhood police officer, LAPD Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell with his big smile might be it. He says he always wanted to be a cop.

“As a kid I was always kinda fascinated about the job of a police officer," said McDonnell. "I grew up in Boston and I remember my parents came to America from Ireland a year before I was born, and the Irish cop stereotype was alive and well in Boston.”

But the cash-strapped city wasn’t hiring. So after he finished college, McDonnell moved west.

McDonnell said he had $400 in his pocket, two suitcases, no car, and a Frommer's Guide to L.A.
“I found a place in Hollywood and it was right at the height of punk rock, and everybody’s walking around with blue rooster head haircuts and Mohawks and I’m thinking, 'what have I gotten myself into?'”

Eventually McDonnell embraced the city, and the LAPD. He rose through various jobs, often taking on the administrative positions that would lead to the top ranks of the department.

If selected as its chief, he says he’d continue Bratton’s commitment to community policing and to giving commanders more freedom. For five years, McDonnell, 50, served as Bratton’s chief of staff.

“I’ve learned so much from him," McDonnell said. "Ya know when something happens, to get on it quick, not to wait for the story to happen to you, to be open and forthright with what happened and what you’re going to do to make it better and ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”

Another finalist for chief is Deputy Chief Michel Moore, who runs the LAPD’s operations in the San Fernando Valley.

"I came on this department some 28 years ago to engage in a profession of service, a life of meaning," said Moore.

Moore’s seen as a hard-driving cop. Last year, he rushed into a burning mobile home park to save a woman. Earlier in his career, he won a Medal of Valor when he shot dead a man who had killed his girlfriend. He was moonlighting as a security guard at a shopping mall at the time.

“He began running toward the shopping center and I was fortunate enough to be able to stop his actions," said Moore. He added, with a policeman's chuckle, that the man was well-armed. "I had a two-inch handgun, he had a rifle. It was a big gun, I can tell you that.”

Moore's selection as a finalist surprised some LAPD observers. He’s been less visible than the other candidates for chief. He’s credited with reducing crime in the San Fernando Valley. He’s Latino – the only non-white in the running. Like the other candidates, Moore, 49, talks of continuing Bratton’s emphasis on community policing.

“Our people have the right values and I think they go about their job in an outstanding manner," said Moore. "My obligation is how do I reinforce that, how do I encourage and motivate it so that it stays the overarching value of respect for people."

Deputy Chief Charlie Beck is the third finalist to succeed Bratton. Like the others candidates, he is an LAPD veteran. Unlike them, he didn't necessarily intend to be a cop.

“I was supposed to be a professional athlete," said Beck, who rides motocross. "But I only lacked talent and drive," he adds smiling.

Beck instead followed his father into the LAPD. His son and daughter have since followed Beck into the department.

The chief of detectives is widely seen as the favorite in the race to replace Bratton. Beck is a former South L.A. CRASH anti-gang cop who now recognizes the need to change the department’s culture.

“I think now is the time for a leader that can take those changes that were made with the command staff, the top 100 people in the department, and spread those changes, inculcate them into the rank and file, and I think I’m uniquely suited for that.”

Beck, 56, said he combines a commitment to reform with loyalty from cops on the street.

“People, especially in those areas most effected by crime, are very worried that the LAPD will backslide – will go back to the quote-unquote 'old school,'" said Beck. "So I think the most important thing you can do is ensure in peoples’ mind that those of us that are candidates are committed to continuing constitutional, effective policing in the style of Bill Bratton.”

After the mayor picks one of these finalists, that choice is subject to ratification by the Los Angeles City Council.