Top Policeman May Leave : LAPD’s Valley Chief Aspires to Head Marshals

The top Los Angeles Police Department official in the San Fernando Valley, Deputy Chief Daniel R. Sullivan, has edged out a field of about 70 competitors to become one of six finalists for the job of Los Angeles County marshal.

The marshal is to be selected by unicipal Court judges voting in secret ballot next week, a court spokesman said Thursday.

Sullivan, 47, the outspoken and frequently controversial commander of police in the Valley, confirmed that he is seeking the job. A court spokesman said the county marshal oversees a staff of 700, including 500 deputy marshals.

The marshal’s office is responsibile for security in Los Angeles County’s 24 municipal courthouses, oversees prisoners appearing in municipal courts, enforces court orders and makes arrests on warrants.

‘It’s Not the Pay’

The marshal’s salary ranges from $67,000 to $90,000, depending on experience and qualifications, a court spokesman said.

“It’s not the pay,” said Sullivan, who said he now earns $89,000 a year. If selected, he would receive a yearly police pension of $49,000 in addition to the marshal’s salary.

Sullivan said he applied for the job last summer because “the timing just happened to be right. I haven’t run out applying for other jobs. I have 25 years on the department and I’m not going to be chief of police. It’s time to move on.

“I never sat here dreaming about being the chief of police even though a lot of people thought I did. I believe the selection of the next chief will be very, very political.”

Sullivan said becoming county marshal would also allow him to remain in law enforcement in Los Angeles County, where he has lived since childhood. “I think it would be a great assignment because the courts will only get more difficult and more challenging,” he said.

Sullivan is the co-author of a textbook on criminal investigations and a consultant on law enforcement. Described by his colleagues as intelligent, witty, brash and cynical, Sullivan has not hesitated to criticize that which annoys him, including the City Council, wealthy Westsiders and the court system.

His name has long been discussed as a potential replacement for Police Chief Daryl F. Gates. Gates said in the past that he would retire after the 1984 Olympics, but has made no apparent move to do so.

If selected, Sullivan would be one of a number of high-ranking Los Angeles police officials who have left their jobs recently to head other law-enforcement agencies.

In February of this year, Cmdr. William Burke resigned to become police chief in Burlington, Vt. In June, Assistant Chief Marvin D. Iannone left to become police chief of Beverly Hills. That same month, Deputy Chief Llewellis Ritter quit to become chief of security for the California Lottery. Cmdr. Thomas Windham will be leaving in December to become police chief in Fort Worth, Tex.

Sullivan said he told Gates of his intention to seek the marshal’s job. “He’s sorry to see any of us leave,” Sullivan said. “He wished me the best of luck.”

The marshal’s job became available in July after health problems forced John Mahon, a former Los Angeles police lieutenant, to retire after nine years in office. Asst. Marshal Robert F. Mann, who has been acting marshal while Mahon was on disability leave for nearly a year, is also being considered for the permanent post, said Lt. Roy Pugh, head of the marshal’s personnel office.

A committee of nine municipal court judges selected the six final candidates. The final selection will be made Nov. 20 by secret vote of at least half of the county’s 153 Municipal Court judges in a meeting at the Los Angeles County Courthouse, a court spokesman said.

Another high-ranking Los Angeles police official, Northeast Division Capt. D. Clayton Mayes, is also a finalist for the position, as is John T. Hall, administrative supervisor for the Los Angeles office of the FBI. Also in the running are C. L. Johnson and Clyde Gatlin, both commanders assigned to the Marshal’s Operations Bureau.