First Latino Will Head CHP’s South Division

The new chief of the California Highway Patrol Southern Division is a 20-year-veteran of the agency and the first Latino to hold the rank, officials announced Friday.

Edward W. Gomez, 44, now commands a division which encompasses most of Los Angeles County and part of Kern County, with a total of 1,100 CHP officers and 500 civilian employees.

Gomez said Friday that most of his 20-year career with the patrol has been spent in Southern California--in Baldwin Park, Culver City and Torrance.

“Because of that, I think I have a tremendous insight into the problems and personnel,” he said.

“We have the largest force,” he added of the Southern Division, which is one of eight CHP divisions statewide.

Variety of Problems

The division also faces a wider variety of problems, such as “hazardous material spills, more congestion, increasing drug (enforcement) problems,” he said.

“Statistically, our people get hurt with more regularity down here . . . everything from snipings to being attacked by people under the influence of drugs,” he said.

Gomez replaces Jack Kellar, who held the post for six months on an interim basis and has been transferred to a post in Sacramento.

Most recently, Gomez was assistant chief in the CHP’s Border Division in San Diego, responsible for supervising field operations. Previously, while investigative services commander in that division, he was responsible for the apprehension of an international auto theft ring while working under cover in Mexico.

A native of Ventura, he holds a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Sacramento, and a master’s in public administration from California State University, Los Angeles. He is married and has two sons.

Several Firsts

Before becoming the first Latino to reach the rank of chief, he was the CHP’s first Latino captain of the South Los Angeles Area in Torrance, and first Latino assistant chief. The officers he will command are primarily Anglo, he said, with 6% black and 10% Latino.

The numbers of minorities in management ranks is “growing,” he said, although there are not now any other ranking Latinos in the Southern Division. “I think that is something that probably will be happening,” he said.