Huntington Beach Ready to Pick New Police Chief

Huntington Beach is expected to have a new police chief Monday night when the City Council decides among three finalists vying for the top law enforcement job in Orange County’s third largest city.

The candidates, all of them police chiefs in smaller cities, are Richard M. Tefank of Pomona, William E. Eastman of Pleasanton and Ronald E. Lowenberg of Cypress. Each would get a raise by winning the Huntington Beach job, which pays about $85,000 a year.

“It’s the second- or third-highest chief salary in the county,” said Huntington Beach City Administrator Paul Cook, for whom the police chief works. “I still have a little more work to do but I plan to make my recommendation before the council meeting and hopefully they will decide that night.”

The new chief will succeed Grover (Bill) Payne, who retired Aug. 4 as the department’s most veteran officer. Payne, 54, who began his law enforcement career in Huntington Beach in 1958, became chief in 1987, intending to retire within a few years.

Capt. Donald Jenkins, who was not a candidate for the job, has been acting chief for the past two weeks.

Cook said his final pick will be “a team player, which is very important to me.”

“A lot of chiefs don’t get involved (in the city’s management team) and basically run the police department as though it is a fiefdom of their own,” he said. “We want someone who interacts with the rank and file and is visible in the community, and works well with other city leaders. I want the new chief to attend briefings and get to know the (officers) on the street.”

Sgt. Bill Martin, president of the Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn., whose political action committee endorsed several City Council candidates, said: “We’re looking for a strong chief who’s going to be good for morale of the rank and file.”

The new chief will be the first in decades who did not rise through the Huntington Beach police ranks. He will inherit a department of 213 sworn officers who police a city of 187,000 residents plus thousands of visitors who flock to the city’s eight-mile shoreline.

Payne took the reins of the department when it was being sued for alleged brutality in its use of stun guns on jailed men. The excessive-force allegations and the lawsuits, which were settled before trial when the city paid five defendants $60,000 each, represent the most controversial episode of Payne’s tenure.

In February, 1987, Eastman and Lowenberg were both candidates for the Huntington Beach job. Cook said all three finalists have strong leadership and management skills.

Eastman, 48, has been Pleasanton’s police chief since July, 1981. He was a captain with the West Covina police force before that. His 66 sworn officers patrol a city of 52,000, according to Pleasanton Lt. Dave Freeman.

In July, Eastman, president of the California Police Chiefs Assn., wrote an “open letter” to baseball player Jose Canseco of the Oakland Athletics and sent it to the ballclub management. He chided Canseco for citations for driving with a loaded gun in his car and for five speeding tickets, including one in Pleasanton, a 45-minute drive from Oakland.

“Your sniveling was quite profound when you bemoaned the fact that your teammate, who was following you, was not ticketed,” Eastman wrote toward the end of the two-page letter. “That’s really class!”

Pleasanton Lt. Dave Freeman said Eastman, who could not be reached for comment, is well-liked among the department’s rank-and-file. “Our officers association--he’s always gotten along well with them,” Freeman added.

Lowenberg, 43, has been Cypress police chief since December, 1981. He started his law enforcement career as a patrol officer in Cypress in July, 1967, and rose to sergeant in July, 1972. Lowenberg left Cypress in March, 1977, to become a lieutenant for the Baldwin Park Police Department. He left two years later and became a police captain in Tustin, where he remained until 1981.

He leads a department of 52 sworn officers that patrol a city of 45,000.

Cook praised Lowenberg’s handling of the arrest and conviction of his son, Robert E. Lowenberg, 21. The younger Lowenberg was sentenced to two years in prison for starting two forest fires two summers ago.

The fires destroyed 7,100 acres of Cleveland National Forest and caused $2.7 million in damage. The younger Lowenberg went through voluntary drug and alcohol rehabilitation. His father was supportive and open about the family ordeal.

“He is very well-liked here,” said Nancy Leonard, the city personnel director.

Tefank, 44, has been with the Pomona Police Department for 16 1/2 years, the past three as chief. Before that he spent four years with the Montclair Police Department.

His San Gabriel Valley force has 171 sworn officers that police a community of 120,000, the largest department and community of the three finalists.

Choosing Tefank “would be great for them, bad for us,” said Jack Blair, acting Pomona police captain. “Obviously, we’re partial.”