San Clemente Police Chief Leaving Force Beset by Problems

Except for the lone John Wayne portrait hanging on a wall of his office, San Clemente Police Chief Albert C. Ehlow is packed and ready to retire after his last Independence Day shift Saturday.

His departure comes at a critical time for the small 60-year-old Police Department, which could face drastic changes if the city’s budget condition gets much worse.

Already, officials--in anticipation of possible deep cuts in state property tax funding--are looking at the possibility of contracting with the county for police services, a suggestion made several months ago by a citizen budget committee that has employees in the department deeply worried.

Despite other problems in the department in recent years, Ehlow said the biggest challenge he’ll leave for incoming chief Michael L. Sorg, a former San Clemente police lieutenant who in recent years has worked as an assistant city manager, is the budget problem.

“Unfortunately, I’ve seen the city grow faster than the department grows,” Ehlow said. “If you want police services, you’re going to have to pay for them.”

In his 31-year career with the San Clemente Police Department, Ehlow started at the bottom before becoming the city’s top officer in 1987, when his predecessor was fired.

Back in the late 1950s, soon after leaving Camp Pendleton and the U.S. Marine Corps, Ehlow and his wife decided that they preferred South County to their native Michigan, and he found a job at a local air-conditioning company. In 1961, he became a San Clemente reserve police officer.

After a year of working as a reserve officer, Ehlow accepted an offer to become the city’s first full-time “Humane and Sanitation” officer.

“I was the dog catcher is who I really was,” he explained, laughing.

Through the years, Ehlow rose steadily through the ranks, enjoying a career with its share of good as well as tough times.

Among the high points, Ehlow was the first San Clemente detective assigned to work with the Secret Service in the late 1960s to provide security when then-resident President Richard M. Nixon would come home.

Even though the Nixon years were fun, Ehlow said his favorite assignment was as commander of the detective bureau. He is also especially proud of helping establish the Richard T. Steed Softball Complex, in honor of the only San Clemente officer to have been killed in the line of duty.

Some of the toughest times during his tenure as chief have come recently. In January, a male officer was sentenced to seven years in prison for raping a rookie female officer. A serial rapist who had stalked women in San Clemente for a year was never captured. Meanwhile, an outside city-initiated audit found several problems in the department, ranging from a lack of jail supervision to inadequate emergency response time.

“I’m going to miss the people. I’m not going to miss the stress and the pressures you have to contend with,” Ehlow said.

With his new freedom, Ehlow said he and his wife, who have three grown children, plan to travel. He’s already handed over the keys to his city car and has bought a new Cadillac.

“It’s time to see some places and do some things,” he said. “So let’s do it now.”

For his part, Sorg said he’s excited about getting back into law enforcement and is hopeful--given the city’s financial straits--that his new position will indeed be around for a while.

“I’m going to have to start putting my stars on with Velcro,” he said, laughing.

Sorg, who will be sworn in Monday morning, says one of his first goals will be to bring a more community-based law enforcement style to the 75-member department.

“We can’t solve everybody’s problems,” he said. “The community has to take responsibility also. I think we’re at a milestone in law enforcement.”

Sorg, who worked in the Downey and Huntington Beach police departments before coming to San Clemente as a lieutenant in 1980, also served as the city public services director for several years before that position was eliminated. His assistant city manager’s position is also being eliminated with his departure because of budget problems.

“I got a much different perspective about what it takes to run a city,” he said. “Getting away from the department for a while helped broaden my views.”