Garden Grove Police Chief to Retire--and Run for Council

Garden Grove Police Chief Frank Kessler is leaving the force, saying it is time for him to move to the other side of city government.

Kessler, 55, has taken out papers to run for the City Council in November. When he retires Aug. 6 from the job he has had for 13 years, he will finally feel comfortable expressing his political views.

“I have always been a nonpartisan animal (as police chief),” Kessler said Friday. “I have always had to keep my mouth shut.”

And, in keeping with that philosophy, Kessler would only say Friday that his reasons for retiring correspond with those of City Manager Delbert L. Powers, who quit in January, and with a desire for a career change.

Powers had said he was quitting to become a redevelopment consultant, but his departure coincided with a controversy involving the firing of former city attorney Eric Lauterer.

Kessler would not explain the connection, if any.

‘Time to Change’

“After 34 years of police service (21 for the Tucson Police Department), it’s time to change, and I’m still young enough to do something else. I’ve always wanted to enter the political arena.”

Deputy Police Chief John Robertson will take over as acting chief until the city finds a replacement, Kessler said.

“It’s awfully hard for any of us to know what his politics are,” said Mayor Pro Tem Robert F. Dinsen. “In his job, he has to stay neutral, and we never get a chance to see. From what I can see, he’s probably more conservative than most of the members of the council.”

As for having a police chief seeking public office, Dinsen said: “That’s his privilege; he’s a registered voter. He’s been a citizen of Garden Grove for quite a while.”

‘On Cutting Edge’

Kessler said he wants to see Garden Grove Police Department remain “on the cutting edge of change.”

“We’ve been there ahead of change,” he said, reeling off a list of high-tech law enforcement tools the department uses: laser fingerprinting; computer mapping, which enables officers to get the history and census information for every block in the city; computer vehicle tracking, which lets dispatchers know police vehicle locations, and computer terminals in police cars.

Kessler said the hallmark of his career in law enforcement will be Sunday morning when his department will become the first police agency in Orange County to receive accreditation for meeting the standards of the National Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

“I wouldn’t send a child of mine to a college that’s not accredited, and I would not go to a hospital that’s not accredited. People in the community shouldn’t have a police department that’s not accredited.”

But not all of Kessler’s police chief colleagues favor national accreditation. In fact, the California Police Chiefs Assn. recently took a stand against national accreditation and suggested that California adopt its own accreditation standards.

“Eventually I think we will see more and more accreditation taking place, especially as the national (commission) really gets going,” he said.

850 Standards

Six hundred police agencies in the nation are working toward accreditation, which is granted after police officials prove to the commission that their department policies and procedures comply with 850 standards.

Garden Grove police are hosting the national commission meeting this weekend at the Hyatt Regency Alicante Hotel in Garden Grove, where 10 agencies will be approved--increasing to 79 the number of accredited agencies in the nation. The commission meets three times a year to grant accreditations.

Kessler said he will receive $3,000 a month in retirement pay, half his current salary of $72,000 a year. He said he will receive no health or life insurance benefits.