Former LAPD Deputy Chief Will Head Santa Ana Police

Clyde L. Cronkhite, a former Los Angeles deputy police chief, was named Santa Ana police chief Friday.

The appointment had been eagerly awaited by many in the city of 250,000 because of claims by some that the department had been rudderless since the April retirement of Raymond C. Davis.

Others said the naming of a new chief might help end a lingering contract dispute that has caused the department’s 370 officers and 200 civilian employees to engage in a work slowdown in recent months.

At a press conference at City Hall to announce his selection of Cronkhite, City Manager David Ream said that Cronkhite, “one of the finest law enforcement officers in the U.S.,” would “lead the department on to a new plane.”

But Ream cautioned: “The naming of a police chief and contract negotiations are separate issues.”

And Cronkhite, a 49-year-old Huntington Beach resident who was chosen from 60 applicants for the $85,000-a-year post, would not say what he might do to help the city and the Police Benevolent Assn. reach a settlement.

“I have an urge to answer that, but I think it is inappropriate to do so, because I’m not chief now and won’t be the chief for a couple of weeks,” said Cronkhite, who is expected to assume his new position Nov. 23.

“My only thoughts are that I will do what is in the best interests of the city.”

In 26 years with the Los Angeles Police Department, Cronkhite rose to become one of the force’s four deputy police chiefs before he resigned last year to become vice president for security for Columbia Savings & Loan Assn. in Irvine.

Friday, his appointment was greeted with praise from former LAPD colleagues, city officials and the Police Benevolent Assn.

But City Councilman John Acosta, while saying that Cronkhite “is very qualified, and I respect the choice,” added: “I would have preferred someone with (Santa Ana) experience, someone who has the pulse of the local community.”

3 Santa Ana Veterans

Acosta would not say which candidate he preferred. However, he noted that at least three of the applicants had worked, or have worked, for the Santa Ana Police Department.

A week ago, acting Police Chief Eugene B. Hansen was one of the four semifinalists passed over by the selection board composed of four city and police administrators from outside Santa Ana.

Santa Ana Police Capt. Paul Walters was one of the finalists.

So was Porterville Police Chief Norwood E. (Woody) Williams. On Tuesday, Williams acknowledged that 13 years ago, when he was a Santa Ana police lieutenant, he was briefly suspended from the force because of conflicting statements he made in the arrest of a masseuse accused of prostitution.

Friday, Ream defended choosing someone from outside the department. “We were filling a civil service vacancy,” he said. “We looked at candidates inside the department, and from throughout the U.S.--and chose the best.”

Patricia McGuigan, Santa Ana’s vice mayor, also defended the selection of someone who was not a veteran of the SAPD. “We had an excellent board of evaluators for the process, and since this was a civil service position, the selection process identified the best person for the job,” she said.

‘Deal With the Issues’

“I’ve read the background information on Mr. Cronkhite, and he comes from a situation similar to what we have in Santa Ana. I feel comfortable that he will be able to deal with the issues confronting the city, such as our diverse ethnic population and the need to have a strong working relationship between the community and police.”

When Cronkhite retired from LAPD in February, 1986, he was head of the department’s central bureau in downtown Los Angeles. He supervised 1,700 uniformed and detective personnel serving 800,000 residents.

“The area I left a year ago was very much like Santa Ana,” Cronkhite said Friday. “It had a large Hispanic and Asian population, along with downtown businesses. And like Santa Ana, it had the county seat, state and federal buildings, and areas in the midst of redevelopment.”

While there, Cronkhite “got things done,” LAPD Commander Jim Chambers recalled Friday. Cronkhite organized a highly successful narcotics task force, Chambers said, by bringing together officers from various divisions of LAPD, along with officers from the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

LAPD Lt. Jim McMurray, who was Cronkhite’s adjutant during the last three years he was with the department, said Cronkhite’s “people-managing style” might lead to better SAPD labor relations.

After LAPD replaced sworn police officers with civilian dispatchers and to handle complaints, “we had problems hiring and retaining qualified communications system employees,” McMurray recalled. “The jobs had little mobility.”

Cronkhite solved this problem, McMurray said, by instituting a career ladder in which communications personnel could attain ranks such as training officer and senior police officer representative.

What Santa Ana Needs

LAPD Deputy Chief Ron Frankle said: “Santa Ana is lucky to get a man of Cronkhite’s caliber. He’s the kind of guy who is understanding and will try to find what Santa Ana needs, rather than having preconceived ideas of what should be done.”

Frankle said that Cronkhite not only has extensive front-line experience, but also has keen administrative skills. During the four years Cronkhite headed the LAPD’s support services bureau, he supervised the installation of the department’s new computerized communication system.

During that period, Cronkhite also founded Forum 2000, which gave officers the opportunity to meet once a month to talk about research that was being done on what law enforcement would be like in the future.

LAPD Sgt. Frank Grimes, a director of the Los Angeles Protective League, said that because so much of Cronkhite’s work in recent years had been in research or technical areas, he does not know much about Cronkhite’s views on labor relations.

Nonetheless, SAPD Sgt. Don Blakenship, president of the Police Benevolent Assn., said he is pleased with Cronkhite’s selection because he believes the new chief will be a “strong leader. We’re looking to his leadership to assist in a solution of our current wage negotiation problems.”

Cronkhite has three children ages 22-28. He said he and his wife, Patricia, plan to move to Santa Ana.