[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he next chief of the Los Angeles Police Department is Michel "Mike" Moore, a 36-year veteran of the LAPD and an overall safe choice for Mayor Eric Garcetti, who made the announcement on Monday afternoon after weeks of interviews with three finalists.
Garcetti picked Moore over two solid LAPD veterans: Robert Arcos, who would have been the city's first Latino police chief, and Bill Scott, who is African American and the current chief of police of San Francisco. The mayor described the three men as highly qualified, and the selection of Moore one of the "most difficult" of his tenure as mayor of the country's second largest city. Garcetti had not named a female finalist.
"[Moore] doesn't need to hit the ground running, he's already running," Garcetti said.
I am honored to announce Assistant Chief Michel Moore as the 57th Chief of Police of the Los Angeles Police Department. I have known and worked with Mike for over 30 years, and am more than confident that he will continue to lead the #LAPD with heart and character. pic.twitter.com/7v6W9mZ4zG
— Chief Charlie Beck (@LAPDChiefBeck) June 4, 2018
Mike Moore is 57 years old and runs patrol operations for the LAPD. Once approved by the City Council, he would take over for outgoing Chief Charlie Beck on June 27. Beck announced his retirement in January.
At Monday's announcement, the incoming new chief expressed gratitude for his selection, and offered dual messages to communities often affected by police misconduct, and to rank-and-file officers who may have lost morale under Beck's term.
"I clearly listened to those communities, but I also heard from them a desire to be more engaged, to be more deeply invested," Moore said. He went on: "I need the people of this great department to know that today is a day that they get to step forward and be heard again."
Moore identifies with Basque heritage, from Spain, and is listed as Hispanic on LAPD rosters, according to the L.A. Times. But the paper said the new chief doesn't have a clear ethnic constituency.
The L.A. Times also dug up two shootings that Moore has been involved in, including one as a security guard:
As a young police officer, Moore pulled the trigger in two shootings.
At a downtown loading dock in 1985, he shot a man who pointed a handgun at truck drivers and then aimed at him, according to a report by then-Chief Daryl Gates. The man survived, and Gates found that the shooting complied with department policy.
A year later, while moonlighting as a security guard at a shopping mall in the San Fernando Valley, Moore killed a man who was firing a semi-automatic rifle in the parking lot. [...] It later became clear that the man was shooting at his ex-wife, killing her.
Beck's tenure ends marked by a string of high-profile LAPD police killing that have sparked protests in east and south Los Angeles.
Response among police-reform advocates was tempered with caution but openness. Jasmyne Cannick, campaign director of Reform LA Jails, said the three finalists were well-qualified, and that she was willing to give Moore a chance to prove himself.
"I think what the community is hoping for is someone who is going to be a little more open, and not pay lip service to the community, and actually do community relations," Cannick said. "We get a lot of lip service, we get a lot of sound bites. Hopefully under a new chief it will be different."
But, she added, if "it's the same policies, the same favoritism, the same cronyism, then, yeah, the community is going to continue to be frustrated and upset."
READ MORE:
From the Streets of Atwater to the Next Possible Chief of the LAPD ~ Meet Robert Arcos
‘You Have My Support’ — A Look Back at the Tenure of Outgoing LAPD Chief Charlie Beck
