Jim McDonnell, selected by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to lead the LAPD on Friday, isn’t a newcomer to the mammoth agency. He spent the majority of his career there — about 28 years.
He’s also no stranger to standing at the helm of a massive law-enforcement agency, having served as Los Angeles County Sheriff for four years.
But before McDonnell made his bid to become county sheriff, he served as the chief of the Long Beach Police Department from 2010 to 2014.
City and law enforcement leaders say that the legacy he left behind in that coastal community is surely a sign of good things to come for the LAPD — and it bodes well for cooperation between major agencies, they said.
McDonnell’s selection for the Long Beach job was a surprise to some in the local law enforcement community, who had expected an internal candidate — namely, Robert Luna, the current L.A. County Sheriff and previous LBPD Chief, who took over after McDonnell’s tenure — to be selected over an external applicant.
“He is one of the preeminent law enforcement leaders of our time. He’s like a rockstar in the law enforcement world,” said Steve James, former president of the Long Beach Police Officers Association, in a Friday interview. “He’s a very good law enforcement leader, a great chief —but a better person.”
James — who was the union president for 17 years, and worked alongside McDonnell among many other LBPD chiefs — said McDonnell helped navigate the department through a budgetary crisis, and elevated its existing work on community policing and relationship building.
“He was somebody who commanded a great deal of respect. His decisions were based on a lot of knowledge and know-how,” said Rich Chamber’s the POA’s current president, on Friday. “And even with that prior knowledge and all that he had to rely upon, (he listened) to all points of view before making a decision. That was something that I respected.”
McDonnell became chief in 2010,…
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