Redondo Beach Police Chief Say He’ll Retire in a Year

Redondo Beach Police Chief Roger Moulton has announced his retirement, saying he wants to protect his pension before the Public Employees Retirement System seeks legislation that might alter it.

Moulton, 59, who has been chief of the 102-officer department for eight years, said he has been thinking about retiring since earlier this year because, after 37 years in law enforcement, he has served long enough. He said he decided earlier this month to make the move after PERS made changes in the system to curb pension-spiking abuses.

For those employees whose contracts allow it, PERS will permit retirees to cash in unused sick and vacation time toward their final year’s salary until June, 1994. By then, PERS hopes to have a new law on the books that would more strictly regulate the practice in an effort to curb pension-spiking abuses.

Moulton’s contract with the city permits the use of unused sick leave and vacation time, and the chief said he will take advantage of it, leaving Dec. 31, 1993. All those who do so must announce their retirement one year before their retirement.

Moulton, whose current salary is $95,000, has amassed 17 years with PERS because of employment with other police departments. He said the personnel department has not yet told him what his final salary and pension will be.

Moulton said highlights of his term include the completion of a new use-of-force policy and gaining national accreditation for the department. The use-of-force policy should be completed by mid-January and the accreditation, given by a nonprofit national professional commission, could come by summer, he said.