Bob Murray & Associates Leading Search for Top LAPD Position
March 25, 2024 – The public sector is in the midst of major transformation. It faces an array of challenges that range from shifting public expectations to budgetary pressures and a growing demand for operational efficiency. To successfully navigate these issues, government organizations need leaders who are focused, tenacious, and adaptable, report recruiters, with the capacity to deal with significant scale, complexity, and ambiguity.
Bob Murray & Associates has been retained by the city of Los Angeles to lead in its search for a new police chief. The firm also placed out former LAPD chief William J. Bratton more than two decades ago. The firm will be paid $65,000 to come up with a list of 10 to 20 candidates to lead the LAPD, according to that Los Angeles Times. The search process will include conducting a community survey on the chief’s job, running social media ads to attract potential applicants, and checking the finalists’ credit histories, according to the firm’s contract with the city’s personnel department.
Michel Moore unexpectedly announced his retirement in January after five and a half year as chief. Last month, the Police Commission appointed Assistant Chief Dominic Choi to take over on an interim basis.
“In a presentation to the commission, Dana Brown, general manager of the personnel department, said the city decided on Bob Murray & Associates because of its more than 30 years of experience conducting law enforcement executive searches,” the LA Times report said. “Notably, Ms. Brown said, the company was involved in the selection of Bratton, the big-talking East Coaster who was tapped to lead the LAPD in 2002 after he helped oversee the department’s compliance with a federal consent decree. Ms. Brown told the commission that the city’s charter calls for “an open competitive process.”
“Our recruitment seeks to leave no stone unturned,” she said. The contract with Bob Murray & Associates notes the firm’s experience, with more than 200 searches for police chiefs and assistant chiefs, including current hunts in California for top executives in Petaluma, Santa Ana and Palos Verdes Estates. The city of San Diego also recently hired the firm to find its next fire chief.
The chief of police (COP) is the highest-ranking officer in the Police Department. The COP is appointed by the mayor, is subject to the approval of the Police Commission and the City Council, and can serve a maximum of two five-year terms. As a general manager of the Police Department, the COP is responsible for the planning, efficient administration and operation of the Police Department under the authority of the Board of Police Commissioners. Dominic Choi is currently interim chief of police for the Los Angeles Police Department.
This top leader directs, plans, and coordinates the enforcement of the penal divisions of the City Charter, the ordinances of the city, and the laws of the state and nation for the purpose of protecting persons and property and for the preservation of the peace of the community. The COP is responsible for testifying before the City Council, the state and national legislative bodies on law enforcement matters of importance to the city of Los Angeles, as well as proposing new or amending existing legislation which could have an impact on law enforcement.
Related: Teri Black & Company Recruits Grand Rapids Police Chief
The chief of police reports to the Police Commission and interacts with the City Council and mayor. The chief is responsible for the conduct of operations, the efficient and effective utilization of the department’s financial and human resources and is ultimately accountable to the city of Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Police Department is an organization of approximately 12,000 women and men who are responsible for maintaining a safe, crime-free environment. The chief of police administers an annual budget of $1.189 billion and has over 8,959 sworn officers under his jurisdiction.
Public Sector Consultants
Bob Murray & Associates clients include cities, counties and special districts, both large and small. The firm has worked with the cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Fresno, Sacramento, and San Diego, CA; Eugene, Salem, and Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; San Antonio, TX; New Orleans; Greenville, SC; Norfolk, VA; Jupiter and Miami Beach, FL; and Washington, D.C. Counties the firm has worked with include Orange County, Monterey County, and Marin County, CA; Clackamas County and Washington, OR; Fulton County, Orange County and Lowndes County, GA; Arlington County, VA; and Bay County, FL.
Bob Murray & Associates has also assisted a number of special districts and professional organizations including the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association and the California State Association of Counties.
Related: Waverly Partners Assists the City of Dayton in the Recruitment of New Police Chief
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor; Lily Fauver, Senior Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
