OJAI : Harwell Named Chief of Police

Lt. Joe Harwell will leave his post as the top homicide detective in the Sheriff’s Department to become chief of police at the Ojai sheriff’s substation, officials said Tuesday.

Harwell, 45, will take over command of the Ojai Police Department on Aug. 2. Ojai contracts with the Sheriff’s Department to provide police services.

He replaces Lt. Ken Kipp, who was promoted to the position of commander. Kipp will receive a new assignment in August.

Harwell, an Oak View resident, said he requested the transfer because he was ready for a change in his post as head of the Sheriff’s Major Crimes Bureau, which investigates homicides, kidnapings and other violent crimes.

“The job I’ve got now is very interesting, but I’m looking forward to doing something different,” he said.

Since his appointment as head of the Major Crimes Bureau in 1988, he has investigated 45 murders, Harwell said. The most well-known occurred in March, 1990, when child-molestation victim Paul Bailly, 8, was found gagged and burned to death on a Simi Valley slope.

Within 24 hours, sheriff’s homicide detectives had arrested Greg Smith in the child’s murder. Smith was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death earlier this year, Harwell said.

“That’s one of the gratifying ones,” he said.

More disappointing was the February stabbing death of Camarillo businessman Yasuo Kato. Although detectives have investigated several theories for the killing, including Kato’s possible involvement with the Japanese Mafia, a suspect has not been identified.

“That probably is one of the most frustrating cases I’ve worked on,” Harwell said. In his 23 years with the Sheriff’s Department, Harwell also has worked on patrols and records assignments. He has lived in the Ojai Valley since 1952, graduating from Nordhoff High School in 1964.