Police Chief of Hermosa Beach Suspended in Drinking Inquiry

Hermosa Beach Police Chief Frank Beeson has been suspended pending an investigation of possible misconduct involving drinking, city officials said today.

Mayor George Barks said Beeson was suspended by City Manager Gregory T. Meyer on Thursday after a complaint by a city employee that Beeson had been drinking. Officials refused to provide details of the complaint, and Meyer was unavailable for comment.

Beeson was briefly suspended once before after he appeared at a City Council meeting intoxicated, Barks said. That incident occurred two weeks after he was appointed chief four years ago, he added.

Barks said Beeson admitted himself to a local hospital for alcohol treatment after his suspension Thursday. The suspension is with pay, he said.

Beeson previously served in the Los Angeles Police Department 26 years, including a stint as community relations officer in South-Central Los Angeles after the Watts riots. He left the department in 1981 shortly before he was chosen chief in Hermosa Beach.