Anaheim Police Chief Molloy Dies of Heart Attack

Police Chief Joseph T. Molloy, a fitness buff who ran marathons and participated in triathlons, died Tuesday of a heart attack as he prepared for his morning jog.

Molloy, 54, was found by his secretary on the floor of a personal locker room next to his police station office shortly after 8 a.m., authorities said. He apparently had been dead for some time.

During his five years with the Anaheim Police Department, Molloy earned a reputation as an innovator in law enforcement who was outspoken and worked long hours. He was criticized, however, for the way he handled a plasterers’ strike and for taking a second job with the Los Angeles Rams.

“This is an absolute shock,” said Bob Simpson, a City Council member and former city manager who hired Molloy in 1988. “He was such an avid exerciser. He’s the last person I would have thought would have succumbed to a heart attack.”

A coroner’s investigator said Tuesday that Molloy suffered from heart disease and had an enlarged heart. Molloy was apparently unaware of his condition, city officials said. Known for his athleticism, he frequently arrived at his office at 5 a.m. to jog up to 12 miles before work.

Molloy made wide-ranging policy changes in the 500-employee department.

He was responsible for changing the department’s brown uniforms to more traditional navy blue, as well as converting all-white squad cars to black and white patrol units.

Molloy also instituted a three-day week and 12-hour workday for many officers, and put more officers on the streets by freeing them of some administrative duties. He experimented with community policing and was one of the first chiefs in the county to allow his officers to carry nunchakus, a martial arts weapon.

In August, Molloy stepped into controversy by going to court to get a restraining order against striking plasterers who were picketing a construction site. He was criticized for trying to deny the strikers their right to protest, but he contended that the plasterers were blocking streets and yelling obscenities at his officers.

Molloy also was criticized by some city officials in recent months because of his moonlighting last season as a security consultant for the Los Angeles Rams football team.

Last week, City Manager James D. Ruth said Molloy’s position was not in conflict with his city duties, but ordered him to stop accepting pay from the football team to eliminate any appearance of conflict.

The chief was also credited with major successes in the department. The city’s crime rate dropped 11.3% in 1992. The department also recently conducted several successful undercover operations, including the confiscation of more than two tons of cocaine and breaking up a major counterfeiting ring.