The final step to secure Jim McDonnell as the next chief of police for the Los Angeles Police Department will take place Friday, as the LA City Council will vote on his nomination at a confirmation hearing.
After a national search Mayor Karen Bass nominated McDonnell to take the department’s top seat in October, eight months after former Police Chief Michel Moore retired.
Council members will consider McDonnell’s appointment as the 59th leader of the Los Angeles Police Department, the nation’s third largest law enforcement agency.
“Chief McDonnell has committed to serving all Angelenos,” Bass said in a statement. “He is a leader, an innovator and a changemaker, and I look forward to working with him to grow and strengthen the LAPD, deepen relationships with communities across the city and ensure Los Angeles is vigilant and is prepared for whatever is to come.” our way.”
Interim Police Chief Dominic Choi, who has led the department since March, is expected to resign and become one of three assistant chiefs under the expected new chief.
McDonnell would take over a department that will deal with major security issues in coming years as the region hosts the Olympics, a Super Bowl and the World Cup.
After serving 29 years in the LAPD and holding several ranks before becoming Assistant Chief of Police, McDonnell fulfilled important leadership roles with other agencies in Southern California.
From 2010 to 2014, McDonnell served as chief of the Long Beach Police Department and then served one term as Los Angeles County Sheriff from 2014 to 2018, he was the first outsider in more than a century to take over the department.
In October, the City Council’s Public Safety Committee voted 4-1 to appoint McDonnell. Incumbent member Hugo Soto-Martinez opposed his nomination, citing concerns some residents have expressed about McDonnell’s past immigration policies.
During his tenure as LA County sheriff, McDonnell allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into county jails. In 2017, he also opposed Senate Bill 54, which made California a sanctuary city, limiting law enforcement agencies’ cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Other issues the council committee questioned McDonnell on included police recruitment, boosting department morale, unarmed response initiatives, improving police-community relations and limiting liability claims resulting from officer misconduct, among other things.
“I know my role as chief of police very clearly,” McDonnell had said. “I work for the police commission, for the mayor, with the city council and we work as partners in public safety.”
