Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced Friday morning that she has chosen former LA County Sheriff Jim McDonnell, a Catholic, to lead the city’s police department.
Born in Massachusetts to immigrant parents from Ireland, McDonnell moved to Southern California after college and entered the LAPD as a junior officer in 1981 at the age of 21. Over the course of his 29-year career in the department, he rose to the rank of assistant chief of police before becoming chief of the Long Beach Police Department in 2010. In 2014, he was elected LA County Sheriff but four years later lost a re-election bid to Alex Villanueva.
Most recently, McDonnell, 69, served as director of USC’s Safe Communities Institute, which studies successful approaches to public safety. He will replace former Chief Michel Moore, who retired in February after more than 5 years on the job.
McDonnell and his wife Kathy are known to attend Mass regularly in the Long Beach area. Past LAPD chiefs with Catholic roots include Bernard Parks and William H. Parker.
McDonnell was also a longtime friend of late LA Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell. The two first met more than 30 years ago, when McDonnell was an LAPD officer and O’Connell was a young priest serving in parishes in South LA.
“He was kind of a man of the heavens, but a man of the streets,” McDonnell told Angelus in an interview after a memorial Mass earlier this year marking the first anniversary of O’Connell’s death. “He’s still looking out for us. We continue to move forward with his guidance and more so, his inspiration.”
Leader. Innovator. Change maker.
This morning, I announced my selection of Jim McDonnell to serve as the next Chief of the LAPD.
We will strengthen and grow the Department.
We will build on relationships with communities.
We will ensure L.A. is vigilant and prepared for… pic.twitter.com/SCfJHHkWvX— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) October 4, 2024
At an Oct. 4 press conference announcing his selection, Bass called McDonnell a “man of integrity” with the traits needed to "continue to transform the department while addressing the near and far challenges we will face in the coming years.”
In a statement, McDonnell said it is a “tremendous honor to lead the men and women of the LAPD.”
“I will work hard to make sure their work to keep Angelenos safe is supported,” he said.
Editor’s note: This is a breaking news story and is subject to updates.
