New Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell

Long Beach's newest Police Chief Jim McDonnell plans to battle budget concerns while finding new ways to fight gang and other crime.

And he plans to do all that while making sure the department is "responsive, approachable and transparent," McDonnell said Wednesday afternoon.

McDonnell outlined the biggest hurdles in his new job and challenges for the city during a news conference held at the Long Beach Water Department to announce his new post as the city's 25th police chief. The former Los Angeles Police Department veteran of more than 30 years beat out at least six other candidates for the job, including all of the Long Beach Police Department's deputy chiefs.

He is scheduled to be sworn in in March, he said.

City Manager Pat West said McConnell will earn $217,000 a year, slightly below his predecessor's salary of just over $219,000. West also said the new chief does not have a contract and is an at-will employee, like all city department heads.

"The budget is certainly first and foremost on everybody's mind," McDonnell said when asked about his top priorities.

"And gang crime is a primary concern," he added.

Among the challenges will be the release of 5,000 prisoners into the county this year - and the possibility of another 18,000 being released over the next two years - he said.

Gang issues continue to be a problem for Long Beach, like many other cities, and the community has a number of assets that need protection, such as the airport and ports, he said.

City Manager Pat West acknowledged that some people in the city were not happy with his decision to hire from outside the department, but West added that filling the post of chief was perhaps the most important choice he has had to make as city manager.

"My duty as city manager is to select the absolute best-of-the-best for this incredibly important position," West said.

The decision was made after a grueling selection process that included a series of interview panels, including one made up of community members, a technical panel that included the chiefs of the San Diego and San Mateo police departments, a four-member panel of various city department directors and an executive management panel.

"Simply put, Jim McDonnell is the best person to lead the Long Beach Police Department, and appointing him chief of police is the right choice for our community and right choice for the department," West said.

Both West and Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster credited the other candidates with having excellent credentials and thanked the department's deputy chiefs for running the department - along with interim Police Chief Billy Quach - since the October departure of former Chief Anthony Batts.

Batts announced his decision to leave the LBPD to become Oakland's police chief in August. At the time of Batts' departure, West said the search for his replacement would be internal due to the caliber of the candidate pool and to save costs.

He changed his mind shortly after the internal candidates filed their applications on the original deadline of Dec. 11, announcing the decision to open the search to outsiders the following Monday.

That move spawned a major controversy within the Long Beach Police Department. Many officers read the decision to open the search after the internal candidates applied as a slap in the face to the department's brass and an insult for the police department as a whole.

While city officials have not confirmed who applied for the job or the finalists, sources told the Press-Telegram that the decision came down to four men: McDonnell and two internal candidates - Deputy Chief Bill Blair and Deputy Chief Robert Luna - and one external candidate - Oceanside Police Chief Frank McCoy, who left the LBPD in 2006 at the rank of commander.

Foster and West also lauded McDonnell, with the mayor not missing the opportunity to make a joke about the new chief's New England accent and penchant for rooting for East Coast sports teams.

"The residents of Long Beach should know that your new chief has impeccable credentials and a sterling reputation in the national law enforcement community," said Foster, who called McDonnell a "world-class leader."

The reaction of City Council members, however, was mixed.

Only two council members attended the news conference announcing McDonnell's hiring, 2nd District Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal and 9th District Councilman Val Lerch, who also serves as the head of the city's Public Safety Commission.

Also notably absent from the news conference was Long Beach Police Officers Association President Steve James, who represents the nearly 900 sworn members on the department.

James said he had no comment on the decision Wednesday.

Council members Rae Gabelich and Tonia Reyes Uranga said that while they can't pass judgment on McDonnell as police chief, they didn't like that the search was expanded outside of Long Beach.

"I'm very disappointed, and I think we're going to have a morale issue here in the city of Long Beach," Gabelich said. "I find it hard to believe that these gentlemen who worked here for 25 years and worked their way up aren't capable of doing the job."

Uranga said each of the internal candidates had their own "cheering section" in the community, and now McDonnell will have to deal with a divided police department and a distrustful community.

"Unfortunately, I think he's going to have an uphill battle not only with rank and file morale, but with the community, which I think feels their department was disrespected," Uranga said.

Council members Gary DeLong and Suja Lowenthal were supportive of McDonnell's selection and the process by which he was chosen.

"I've always believed that we should have an open mind and seek the best person for the job," DeLong said.

He and Lowenthal said they didn't think McDonnell's selection would divide Long Beach's police officers.

"Each one of them is committed to what's best for Long Beach and what's best for Long Beach residents," Lowenthal said.

Most officers said they respect McDonnell and are willing to work with him, though many added that they remain angry about the city manager changing the process to find the new chief.

A number expressed concerns that McDonnell was chosen as an outside candidate because he would not be willing to fight further cuts in the department.

McDonnell said at the press conference that he could not speak to why he was chosen over the other candidates, but said budget issues are a huge hurdle and that he is committed to working on with everyone in the department, calling it "a great team" and saying he is a strong believer in inclusion.

"The budget is a major issue everywhere you go," he added. "A set of fresh eyes looking at the issues ... is a positive thing."

McDonnell said he would like to see the department change the way it approaches gang crime and other issues, including providing youth with alternatives to criminal life-styles through community programs.

When told that a number of such programs had been slashed during the latest budget cuts, McDonnell said that the department would have to look to outside of the normal channels for funding. He also said he also hoped to increase funding within the department once the budget crisis -- which he noted has hit the county and state, not just Long Beach -- eases.

"Policing is a people business, you have to work with the community," he said. "I think there are a lot of people in this community who would be willing to do more to help out if asked."

And dealing with the struggles of not enough money and troubled morale is nothing new, McDonnell added, noting his lengthy career with the LAPD.

He was appointed Assistant Chief of the LAPD in 2002 and served as second in command to Chief Bill Bratton until Bratton's retirement last year.

Since his 1981 start at the LAPD, McDonnell has served in a variety of positions, including chief of detectives and chief of staff after having citywide command of the operations and human resources functions for the third largest police department in the nation.

He has received numerous community and department awards, including the LAPD's highest honor for bravery, the Medal of Valor and his formal education includes a master's degree from USC.

McDonnell also regularly lectures at a number of police department schools and has trained criminal justice professionals on a variety of topics and he teaches public policy at UCLA.

McDonnell was among a number of officers who applied for the LAPD chief's job and he was the top choice for Bratton and the Police Commission. The post, however, went to Charlie Beck who demoted McDonnell from the No. 2 position to deputy chief in charge of detectives.

"Had I gotten the job in L.A. I wouldn't be available for this job," McDonnell said candidly.

"But I think this is the best outcome ... I am honored to have been chosen for this position."

McDonnell has lived in Long Beach since 1996 with his wife Kathy and their two daughters, Kelly and Megan, who attends Wilson High School. He said having his family in the city is a huge motivating factor in his new job.

"My wife and I were with our daughter at Wilson (High School) the night Melody (Ross) was killed," he said.

McDonnell said he and his wife had left the area just minutes before the shooting occurred.

His daughter, who was crowned homecoming queen that night and also serves on the student council, was standing in the same area where Ross was shot and within the line of fire.

"I think that shooting brought the scope of the gang problem home for all of us," he said Wednesday. "I made a lot of us realize that kind of crime can happen anywhere."

Both Kathy and Megan McDonnell were with McDonnell at the press conference announcing his new job Wednesday. Kelly McDonnell could not attend because she is currently attending classes at UC Berkeley, the proud father explained.