Sheriff’s Captain to Become Police Chief in Bell Gardens

Capt. Andrew Romero of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department will leave at the end of this month to become chief of police in Bell Gardens.

Romero, 49, has spent his entire law enforcement career in the county sheriff’s department, officials said. He heads its special investigations division.

Romero signed a five-year contract last week and will be paid $90,000 a year. He replaces interim Police Chief Ed Taylor, who left the department on stress disability in March.

Bell Gardens is a largely Latino, working-class community of 45,000 residents 12 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Romero is the first Latino police chief in the department’s history.

An ouster of four white council members in 1991 made way for the city’s first Latino council majority more than a year ago. But deep divisions subsequently developed between police department officials and the new council members. A recent management study of the department criticized the council for meddling in routine police business.

Because of the city’s well-publicized upheaval, Romero demanded a one-year severance pay package should he be fired within the first 18 months. His severance pay would be reduced to $45,000 after 18 months.

Bell Gardens is home to the hugely successful Bicycle Club card casino, which pumps more than $11 million into the city coffers each year.