‘Sure. I miss the action, being in the middle of things . . . making decisions that are important.’

Still addressed as “Chief” more often than not, a shirt-sleeved Tom Reddin leans back in the Koreatown headquarters, talks of his successful security business and notes with mild surprise that it has been 20 years since he quit as head of the Los Angeles Police Department to become a television newscaster and commentator.

Reddin officially retired as chief on May 6, 1969, and went on the air for KTLA at 5 p.m. that day. Those 20 years, he insists, “have been good to me.”

Reddin, who will be 73 next month, had spent two years as chief--a job he took over when the city was still reeling emotionally from the Watts riots of 1965. He switched to television, he said at the time, so he “could reach more people with meaningful discussions of urban problems.”

He did that for three years and, he candidly admits, “made more money than I thought there was in the world.” His salary was four times the $28,500 a year he earned as chief.

Which is not to say that he became a world-famous TV personality. He bowed out in 1972 to run for mayor and “found out I was one of the world’s worst politicians.” He got less than 13% of the primary vote, coming in fourth behind then-City Councilman Tom Bradley, then-Mayor Sam Yorty (who later lost to Bradley in the runoff) and the late Jesse Unruh, who had been Assembly Speaker.

Reddin formed a security consulting firm, then went to work for a private company furnishing security guards and patrols for downtown and Wilshire-area businesses. He left a year or so later after what he calls “a severe falling out with the boss.”

So he formed his own outfit, Tom Reddin Security Services. In his headquarters on the second floor of a small office building at 3434 W. 6th St., he is surrounded by a forest of honorary plaques and other mementos of his 28 years in law enforcement.

He has about 350 security guards working for him in business buildings all around Southern California. The business has grown, he says, “probably about as much as I want it to. It has done very well.”

So, apparently, has Reddin himself. After he retired from the department, he recalls, “For the first time in my entire life, I had control of my life. . . . “ No longer did he have to attend functions out of duty. It became, “Do I really want to go?”

He did, however, tell his wife, Betty, after he stepped down as police chief, “I owe you 1,000 banquets and dinners and meetings that I don’t really want to go to, but you do.” He reflects on that promise for a moment and observes, “I think she’s just about catching up.”

In the meantime, they do a lot of traveling. They have a home in Hancock Park and another at La Quinta in the desert near Indio. He plays some golf.

Does he plan to retire any time soon from his third career?

“Oh, I’m mortal, sure,” says Reddin. “Some time it will happen. But I’m just not ready to do it now.”

The former chief still takes pride in his development of the Police Department’s community relations program, although he comments that his successor, now state Sen. Ed Davis, “is prone to take credit for it.” He says, “I would like to feel that I was chief of police during a time when we brought peace to the city.”

Reddin adds that he would be “the last person” to criticize William H. Parker, the controversial, hard-nosed chief during Watts. “I think he did a wonderful job,” Reddin says. “But we had to make a transition to a community-oriented department.”

Does he miss being chief?

“Sure. I miss the action, being in the middle of things . . . making decisions that are important. I miss the people I was around for nearly 30 years. But I don’t miss the hangers-on, who are your friends as long as you’re chief and afterward say, ‘Who’s the tall fella?’ ”