Fullerton Hails New Police Chief : Law enforcement: Patrick McKinley, a 29-year veteran of the LAPD and considered a ‘police officer’s chief,’ is no stranger to controversy.

Patrick McKinley, Fullerton’s new top cop, has fought crime in some of the toughest neighborhoods of Los Angeles and some of the most posh.

McKinley, a Los Angeles Police Department captain, will take charge of the Fullerton Police Department on Feb. 8.

“You can’t get much more diverse than East L.A. and Bel Air,” said City Manager James L. Armstrong, citing two areas where McKinley commanded for the LAPD. “He’s known as a strong leader.”

Armstrong hired McKinley, 51, to replace Chief Philip A. Goehring, who retired Dec. 28 after 31 years of service. (Capt. Lee Devore is the acting chief of police until McKinley takes over in February.) City Council members said they were impressed with McKinley’s experience, and believe he will serve well in their diverse city. He is a 29-year veteran of the LAPD.

McKinley helped quell looting and vandalism last spring in the San Fernando Valley with a strict curfew after rioting broke out in Los Angeles. As second-in-command in the valley, McKinley oversaw a force that made 1,160 arrests in a four-day period in May.

Dan Bohling, vice president of the Fullerton Police Assn., said he and members of the association are pleased McKinley is going to be chief.

“He’s a police officer’s chief,” Bohling said. “He’s very well in touch with the troops.”

Bohling said his association talked with former Fullerton police officers who now work in the LAPD to find out about McKinley. Many members of the Fullerton department have taken police tactics classes McKinley taught at Fullerton College, Bohling said, and they spoke highly of him.

McKinley’s experience is not limited to streets.

He is named in a pending class-action lawsuit against the LAPD, which claims the department was using police dogs in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit alleges that police dogs constitute “deadly force” and were improperly unleashed on black and Latino residents.

“It’s an attractive thing for attorneys to sue over,” McKinley said about the alleged abuse by police dogs. He was commanding officer at the Metropolitan Division for four years, and the K-9 unit was part of his command. “They just went right up the chain of command,” McKinley said.

Robert Mann, whose law firm filed the suit, said McKinley “knew or should have known” of the alleged abuse. He said McKinley was guilty of “inadequate supervision.”

Last year, McKinley also was involved in what he called a “political gunfight” between former LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates and the Los Angeles City Council. The Los Angeles Police Command Officers Assn. sued the city because the City Council wanted to disregard a promotion list on which McKinley’s name appeared. Gates threatened to delay his resignation if the list was not certified.

The suit was settled amicably, McKinley said.

McKinley said he was later placed at the top of a promotion list.

McKinley has commanded the Hollenbeck Division in East Los Angeles, and the Metropolitan Division and the 77th Street Division in South Los Angeles. He now commands the West Los Angeles Division, which includes Pacific Palisades, Brentwood and Bel Air.

One longtime friend, Los Angeles Sgt. Phil Anderson, first met McKinley in 1970. He worked for him for four years, from 1988 to 1992, at the Metropolitan Division. Anderson’s office was right next to McKinley’s. “I don’t remember him ever closing his door,” he said. “He is informal and low-key, however, unquestionably in charge.”

It’s a description that McKinley would agree with. “I try to make the work environment as pleasant for everyone as possible,” he said.

Anderson remembered working with McKinley in Sylmar in 1971 after the earthquake, and recalled “his empathy for the residents and his abilities to do what he could to provide the kinds of services,” such as clothing and food, to help people recover from the disaster.

“He’s got that ability to be very personal with people and yet still get the job done in a semi-military company,” Anderson said.

McKinley, who will earn $98,000, said he will immediately tackle the graffiti problem in Fullerton, which has been the subject of many complaints recently. He plans to attend a community meeting Feb. 2 even before he is formally on the job.

“Graffiti touches every place,” said McKinley. He said he’ll encourage residents to help the police.

He said he would also like to go after prolific “taggers” with civil lawsuits to make them pay for the cleanup costs. “It’s almost a challenge to put it where it’s most obnoxious to people,” he said. Taggers are not considered territorial gang members, but more like people who have to carve their initials in every tree they pass.

He and his wife, Barbara Ann, live in Long Beach, but have put their house on the market and are looking for a new home in Fullerton.

McKinley said he likes to exercise with other police members and enjoys swimming.

“That really allows me to identify and be involved with younger police officers,” he said. He won the 1982 statewide “Toughest Cop Alive” athletic contest, which consists of a three-mile run, sprints, swimming, climbing, pull-ups, bench press and shotput. McKinley said he continues to compete in the event.

He said he likes to give his officers decision-making power. “They can accomplish the task,” he said. He admires radio-car officers for their streetwise knowledge of public safety issues.

He said he wanted to be a policeman since his childhood in Minnesota. His mother, he said, remembers him being mesmerized by police officers directing traffic when he was 3 years old.

McKinley graduated from high school in Minnesota and then served four years in the Air Force. He joined the LAPD in 1964 after his discharge.

He also studied and received an associate of arts degree in police science from East Los Angeles College; a bachelor’s degree in business management from Pepperdine University; and a master’s in business administration from USC. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. He has taught police tactics courses for both Fullerton and Rio Hondo colleges; counterterrorism for the U.S. State Department; and dignitary protection and SWAT tactics for USC.

Patrick McKinley Born: June 17, 1941, in Vebelen, S.D. Residence: Long Beach Education: Associate of arts degree in police science from East Los Angeles College, 1972; a bachelor’s degree in business management from Pepperdine University, 1974; and a master’s in business administration from USC, 1978. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy. Career Highlights: Promoted to lieutenant in Los Angeles Police Department in 1973, and to captain in 1979. Has commanded the Metropolitan Division, the Hollenbeck Division, the 77th Street Division, and the West Los Angeles Division. Hobbies: Ocean swimming, diving and boating Personal: Married to Barbara Ann McKinley. They have two sons, Peter, 29, and Daniel, 24.