Jim McDonnell, one of the three finalists for the job of police chief in Los Angeles, is heading south to become the top cop in Long Beach.
McDonnell who was a top assistant to former Chief William Bratton will become Long Beach's 25th police chief.
Currently, Mcdonnell heads the LAPD's detective bureau --a job he was given when Chief Charlie Beck reorganized the department.
The 50 year old McDonnell is considered a strong proponent of community-based policing and he was viewed as an ambassador who helped the police department build bridges with the city's diverse communities.
He succeeds Anthony Betts who left the Long Beach Police Department last year to head up the Oakland Police Department.
Long Beach, which is the second biggest city in Los Angeles County has a police force of more than 1,000 officers.
McDonnell is taking over a department which the Los Angeles Times says has struggled with a surge in officer-involved shootings and gang crime.
McDonnell told Long Beach officials he plans to emphasize strategic crime-fighting and use state of the art techonology to supplement traditional policing.
McDonnell was a 28 year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department who rose through the ranks with assignments in patrol, detectives, vice and other divisions before joining Bratton's inner circle as one of three assistant chiefs.
He was passed over for the Los Angeles Police Chief job in 2002 and last year. He served as Bratton's head of operations and later as his chief of staff.
