‘No better person’ than McDonnell to helm LAPD, former Chief Moore says

Longtime cop Jim McDonnell was named the next chief of the Los Angeles Police Department on Friday.

Former LAPD Chief Michel Moore told KNX News that McDonnell, who previously served as L.A. County Sheriff and chief of the Long Beach Police Department, is well-qualified for the job.

“He doesn't need advice from me,” Moore said. “He goes out every day and he’s demonstrated a path of being a dedicated public servant.”

He said there’s “no better person in America” to helm the LAPD, but also praised the other candidates who were up for the job.

“They're very qualified, highly qualified individuals who in many instances, if not all, could lead any agency across American policing,” he said.

Other contenders for the chief position included LAPD deputy chief Emada Tingirides and former assistant chief Robert Arcos. Some in the Latino community are already upset that, with so many diverse candidates in the running, the job went to another old white man.

But Moore said “the richness of our society is defined much more than just by an ethnic identity.”

“Certainly, as the mayor indicated, and as Jim has committed his life to, we wanted a community and a department that's invested in diversity and inclusion, where everyone has an opportunity to perform and to live up to their greatest potential,” he said. “But with that, that's not always defined solely by the color of a person's skin or the ethnicity or the home in which they were raised.”

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Former L.A. City Councilmember Joe Buscaino told KNX News that hiring McDonnell was the right move, saying he “understands the specific needs of the communities in Los Angeles.”

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