Inglewood Seeks to Fill Void as Top 2 Police Officials Plan to Move On

Inglewood Police Chief Raymond Johnson’s decision to go to Sacramento this fall as an aide to Gov. Pete Wilson will leave the department without either of its two top commanders, forcing city officials to launch a quick search for successors.

Johnson, 55, will become the director of the California Office of Criminal Justice Planning soon after Inglewood Deputy Chief James Butts takes over as Santa Monica’s police chief Sept. 9.

Johnson, praised for bringing community-based policing to the Inglewood department during his five-year tenure, served 21 years in the California Highway Patrol, leaving it as deputy chief in 1986.

The simultaneous loss to Inglewood of its No. 1 and No. 2 officers comes as a double shock to the rank and file and raises questions in many officers’ minds about the future stability of the 210-officer organization, police sources say.

“Everybody is surprised,” said Butts, who accepted the Santa Monica post in early July without knowing that Johnson would be moving on. “There is a feeling that there will be a leadership vacuum, that the ship is going to be a little unsteady for a while.”

The city will launch an intensive search to replace the two men. It will consider candidates both inside and outside the department, city officials said.

At City Hall, officials knew that Johnson was eyeing other law-enforcement positions, but the announcement that he had accepted the state post last week still surprised them.

Truman Jacques, the city’s director of communications, hurriedly called City Council members Friday morning to spread the news. Mayor Edward Vincent was out of town, as was City Manager Paul Eckles and Assistant City Manager Norman Cravens. Johnson himself was attending a conference in Philadelphia on Friday when most officers were given copies of his internal police memo announcing that he was leaving.

“This is sweet and sour,” said Councilman Daniel Tabor. “Both the governor and the city of Santa Monica believe that these two men were prepared by their experiences in Inglewood to take on more challenges. It’s sweet that we created an environment for them to grow professionally. It’s sour because we now have the arduous task of replacing them.”

Councilman Garland Hardeman, a Los Angeles police officer, said the city will miss Johnson, but he downplayed the turmoil the departures will cause.

“There is still stability with captains and lieutenants who have had five years of the Ray Johnson and Jim Butts philosophy,” Hardeman said.

When Johnson was hired by Inglewood in 1986, some officers complained privately that the job should have gone to an insider.

“Some of the old officers resented him, but he kept everyone together,” said Terry Coleman, a community activist and former Los Angeles police officer. “This is a 6.5 on the Richter scale. I wish we could cut (Johnson) in half and give half of him to Pete Wilson.”

Just when Johnson is leaving remains unclear. Jacques said it was his understanding that Johnson would stay around until October, a month after Butts’ Sept. 9 departure. But spokesmen in Wilson’s office said they understood that Johnson would begin in early September.

Johnson, who earns $100,760 a year, will take a pay cut in the $86,000-a-year state post. He will be in charge of formulating and implementing state criminal justice policies.

An Arkansas native who started as a rookie in Bakersfield in 1959, Johnson became the first black motorcycle officer in that department. He moved to the California Highway Patrol in 1965 and became that organization’s first black sergeant, lieutenant, captain, assistant chief and deputy chief.

He leaves Inglewood as a popular leader credited with increasing minority hiring and promotions and reaching out to the community. A reverse-sting program to arrest drug buyers and a special tax to fund an anti-crime team were two innovations under Johnson that helped the city win the All-America City award in 1989.

He is also praised for increasing the number of Neighborhood Watch groups in the city, recruiting ministers as crime-victim counselors and developing the Police Athletics Leagues and other programs for children.

“You just have to look at his record,” said Wilson spokesman James Lee. “He has served for over 30 years as a cop. He has introduced a tremendous number of community-based programs to Inglewood. He has tried to extend law enforcement into more than just punishment.”

Johnson replaces Al Howenstein, a former Marin County sheriff who was appointed by former Gov. George Deukmejian in 1983.