LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former LA County Sheriff Jim McDonnell has been selected to lead the Los Angeles Police Department, taking charge of the force of nearly 9,000 officers as discontent grows among the city's residents over public safety even as violent crime numbers drop, the mayor announced Friday.
Mayor Karen Bass, who had the final say after a civilian board of Los Angeles police commissioners vetted McDonnell, said her selection of a veteran law enforcement officer was based on a need to reduce crime and make every neighborhood safer. Bass met with hundreds of LAPD officers and community leaders before making her decision.
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Newly appointed Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell listens during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, right, and newly appointed police chief Jim McDonnell share a light moment during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, right, and newly appointed police chief Jim McDonnell, center, arrive for a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Newly appointed Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell listens to questions from the media during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, right, and newly appointed police chief Jim McDonnell shake hands during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, right, introduces newly appointed police chief Jim McDonnell during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, left, and newly appointed police chief Jim McDonnell listen to questions from the media during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Newly appointed Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell attends a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Newly appointed Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell speaks during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Los Angeles City Council still needs to approve the choice.
The pick ended debate over whether Bass would choose an “insider” or “outsider” who would shake things up and challenge the way things were done within the department’s insular culture.
“From the beginning, I have been clear: My top priority as mayor is to ensure that Angelenos and our neighborhoods are safer today than yesterday,” Bass said. “Chief McDonnell is a leader, an innovator, and a change maker, and I am looking forward to working with him to grow and strengthen LAPD.”
The incoming chief will have to make sure the department is ready for the additional security challenges of the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.
McDonnell was elected LA County Sheriff in 2014 to oversee the largest sheriff’s department in the U.S. Before that, he spent 29 years in the LAPD and served as Long Beach’s police chief for almost five years.
McDonnell vowed to enhance public safety, grow back the force that has shrunk from about 10,000 officers in 2019, and “ensure respectful and constitutional policing practices.”
McDonnell, 65, said he was happy to come out of retirement to do the job.
“I feel like I still have gas in the tank, fire in the belly, if you will, and a desire to be able to try and be helpful," he said.
The appointment follows the surprise retirement of Chief Michel Moore in early 2024. Moore’s tenure was marked by greater scrutiny into excessive force and police killings of civilians in the nation’s second-largest city. Dominic Choi has led the department as interim chief — and the first Asian American chief — since March 2024. Bass thanked Choi for his work, and said he will continue to serve as assistant chief under McDonnell.
Some had hoped Bass, the first Black woman to be elected mayor in 2022, would use the opportunity to make history and fill the post with the first Latino or female chief. The LAPD has had two Black male chiefs in the past. McDonnell is white.
The other two candidates sent to Bass, who made the final selection, were Deputy Chief Emada Tingirides, a Black woman, and former Assistant Chief Robert “Bobby” Arcos, who is Latino. Both were reported by the Los Angeles Times as finalists for the position.
Bass said she has been a champion of inclusion for her whole career.
“I think there’s work that needs to be done in the LAPD,” Bass said. “I will continue to pay attention to representation particularly with the Latino population which we know is half of the city of Los Angeles.”
The LAPD has faced criticism through the years over its response to the George Floyd protests and several high-profile shootings by officers. It has struggled to get rid of bad cops while also struggling to recruit as more officers leave its ranks than are coming in.
The police officers' union, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, applauded the mayor's choice.
“Her selection of former County Sheriff Jim McDonnell as the next chief of police confirms the mayor’s commitment to improve historic lows in officer staffing and officer morale and to fix LAPD’s broken discipline process," the organization said in a statement. “We have every confidence in Chief McDonnell’s ability to hit the ground running to improve public safety in Los Angeles and to appoint an upper command staff that will do away with the status quo and turn a new page for the LAPD.”
John Sullivan, who retired as a lieutenant in 2018 after 30 years at the county sheriff's department, called McDonnell a “hybrid” in the insider-outsider debate.
“He grew up in the organization, he knows the organization ... but he’s also been the chief of a separate department, and he’s also been sheriff,” Sullivan said. McDonnell would bring a “fresh set of eyes” to the LAPD's problems while understanding the concerns of the rank-and-file.
At the LAPD, McDonnell held every rank from police officer to second-in-command under former LAPD chief Bill Bratton. During that time, he helped implement a federal consent decree imposed on the department largely as a result of the Rampart scandal, a corruption case involving rampant misconduct within the anti-gang unit.
When he was elected county sheriff, he inherited a department in the wake of a jail abuse corruption scandal that led to convictions against his predecessor, Lee Baca, and more than 20 other officials. Members of a civilian watchdog commission applauded McDonnell for embracing federal mandates for jail reform, including improving de-escalation training and better documentation of the use of force that has led to improved jail conditions, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In 2022, he joined the University of Southern California as director of the Safe Communities Institute, which conducts research on public safety solutions.
McDonnell also served on an advisory committee to USC's Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Threats and Emergencies, a U.S. Homeland Security department-funded institution to do research on counterterrorism, according to Sullivan. His experience with studying international security threats could be an asset as police chief.
“We have really large public events that are coming that could well be terrorist targets," Sullivan said, referring to the World Cup and Olympics. "The war in Gaza, the brewing war in south Lebanon, all that's going to have echoes or ripples here in Los Angeles.”
Newly appointed Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell listens during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, right, and newly appointed police chief Jim McDonnell share a light moment during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, right, and newly appointed police chief Jim McDonnell, center, arrive for a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Newly appointed Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell listens to questions from the media during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, right, and newly appointed police chief Jim McDonnell shake hands during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, right, introduces newly appointed police chief Jim McDonnell during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, left, and newly appointed police chief Jim McDonnell listen to questions from the media during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Newly appointed Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell attends a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Newly appointed Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell speaks during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
NEW YORK (AP) — Alonso Martínez and defender Thiago Martins scored first-half goals and New York City FC forced a deciding match with a 3-1 victory over FC Cincinnati at Citi Field on Saturday.
Santiago Rodríguez scored on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time to help No. 6 seed NYCFC even the best-of-three first-round series with third-seed Cincinnati.
Cincinnati, which had won six of the last seven matchups with a plus-9 goal differential entering play, will host the finale on Saturday.
NYCFC grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute when Martínez took a pass from 19-year-old defender Mitja Ilenic and scored his first postseason goal in his second career appearance and start. Ilenic's assist was his first in his first playoff appearance.
Martins sent NYCFC into halftime with a 2-0 lead when he scored unassisted in the 40th minute. It was his first postseason goal in five appearances — all starts.
Cincinnati cut its deficit in half in the 65th minute on a goal by rookie Luca Orellano — his first in the postseason — with assists from Sergio Santos and Luciano Acosta. Santos, who subbed into the match in the 57th minute, notched his third helper in 13 career postseason appearances. Acosta tallied his second this postseason and his fourth in 11 appearances with 10 starts.
Rodríguez's PK came in the seventh minute of stoppage time after he drew a foul on Cincinnati defender Chidozie Awaziem. It was his second goal in nine career playoff appearances — all starts.
Matt Freese saved four shots in his second postseason start for NYCFC.
Roman Celentano finished with one save in his eighth career playoff start for Cincinnati.
Cincinnati last played at Citi Field — home of MLB's New York Mets — in September of 2022 and had never played a playoff match there. The pitch is narrower than most other stadiums.
AP MLS: https://apnews.com/hub/major-league-soccer
New York City FC Mitja Ilenič (35) heads the ball during a soccer match against FC Cincinnati in the MLS Cup playoffs, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur)
The New York City FC team pose for a photo prior to a soccer match against FC Cincinnati in the MLS Cup playoffs Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur)
New York City FC Andres Perea (8) fights for the ball with FC Cincinnati's Yuya Kubo (7) during a soccer match of the MLS Cup playoffs, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur)
New York City FC Keaton Parks (55) fights for the ball with FC Cincinnati's Miles Robinson (12) and Obinna Nwobodo (5) during Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur)
New York City FC's Keaton Parks (55) reacts after they defeated FC Cincinnati in Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur)
New York City FC's Santiago Rodriguez (10) embraces Justin Haak (80) after they defeated FC Cincinnati in Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur)
New York City FC's Thiago Martins (13), third from right, scores a goal against FC Cincinnati during the first half in Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur)
New York City FC's Adrian Martinez (16) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a goal against FC Cincinnati during the first half in Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur)
New York City FC's Kevin o"Toole (22) heads the ball over FC Cincinnati's DeAndre Yedlin (91) during the first half in Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur)
New York City FC's Keaton Parks, right, and FC Cincinnati's Luca Orellano battle for the ball during Game 2 in the first round of the MLS Cup soccer playoffs, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kena Betancur)