Palos Verdes Estates Hires New Police Chief

A 45-year-old police captain from the San Francisco Bay Area city of Pleasanton has been hired as police chief in Palos Verdes Estates, outdistancing three other finalists as well as two candidates from inside the Police Department.

The city announced Thursday that Gary E. Johansen, senior captain of the 60-member Pleasanton Police Department, was unanimously chosen by the City Council and City Manager Gordon Siebert.

Johansen, who was not available for comment, will be sworn in to the $56,000-a-year job on July 26.

All four finalists for the job were from outside the city although community sentiment ran high last year for selection of a chief from within the department. Former Chief Monte Newman took a medical leave because of hypertension last July after earlier announcing he would retire.

Finalists were culled from a field of 10--including Palos Verdes Estates Capt. Mike Tracy and Sgt. Bill Hetherington--recommended by the city’s police consultant, Paul Whisenand, professor of police administration at Cal State Long Beach. About 100 applications were received from throughout the country, city officials said.

Johansen, a 10-year member of the Pleasanton department, has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Fresno State and is a graduate of the California Police Officer Standards and Training Command College.

Mayor James Kinney said the council was impressed by Johansen’s education and experience in a city Kinney likened to Palos Verdes Estates--”a bedroom community that is economically affluent.”

He said Johansen will “be conservative in his approach to any changes. We are happy with our police and how they are received by the residents. Frankly, we are not looking to change that.”

Shortly after Newman announced his intention to retire, 23 residents appeared at the council meeting and said bringing a new chief from outside would damage police morale. As captain, Tracy assumed the chief’s duties nearly a year ago after Newman took his medical leave.

Tracy, who was considered the leading candidate from within police ranks, did not hide his disappointment.

“I should be hired,” Tracy said. “I ran it (the department) for six months, and I ran it well. I had the backing of my people, and it would appear the majority of the community, but the council does not look at it that way.”

Saying that his fellow officers “echo how I feel,” Tracy--who is 44 and a 20-year member of the department--said the selection of an outsider for the top police job raises “concern that no one is moving or advancing, that there is no upward mobility.”

But Kinney said, “We wanted to get the best qualified person, whether within or outside. We had two people who did apply, and they went through the assessment the same as everyone else. They were evaluated in the same manner as everyone else.”

In January, the council named former Anaheim Police Chief Jimmie Kennedy as interim chief and gave him orders to analyze the department and develop criteria for selecting a permanent chief. The question of promoting from within the department or going outside to find a chief became an issue in the City Council election last April.

Kennedy, who said any of the candidates Whisenand recommended were capable of being chief, said Johansen was the best choice: “He will fit nicely into the community of Palos Verdes Estates. His management style is open, receptive and participative.”