FULLERTON : Ex-Chief Is Praised for City, Police Work

Former Police Chief and Mayor Wayne H. Bornhoft was remembered at a dedication ceremony Thursday as a tough leader who demanded integrity and improved the Police Department during his 20 years as chief.

The police building at 237 W. Commonwealth Ave. was named after Bornhoft, who died last November.

A group of Bornhoft’s friends raised money for a portrait and lettering to rename the building. Under the signs reading “Fullerton Police Department” have been added the words “Wayne H. Bornhoft Facility.”

A bas-relief portrait of the former chief was unveiled at the ceremony and will be placed near the entrance to the building.

Bornhoft joined the department as chief in 1957 and is credited with modernizing the police force over the next 20 years.

Bornhoft established the department’s community services, training and planning bureaus. He created standards for the hiring and promotion of officers and started daily training sessions.

Police Chief Patrick McKinley said that Bornhoft’s legacy is “absolute integrity.”

“Because of Wayne Bornhoft’s work here, I have a very easy job. There is a lot of integrity in this department,” McKinley told the crowd of about 100 residents, officers and city workers who attended the ceremony.

Bornhoft’s daughter, Carol Bradshaw of Palm Desert, said her father was always proud of his police work. “He just loved it,” she said.

“He had a certain commitment, a certain self-discipline,” said son Robert W. Bornhoft.

Bornhoft was known as a “law and order” police chief. One of his largest operations was the quelling of a 1970 student uprising at Cal State Fullerton. Bornhoft sent every available officer into the confrontation, at which 19 people were arrested.

“I don’t recall any complaints coming in, as to officer conduct,” said Councilman Don Bankhead, who was a police lieutenant under Bornhoft at the time of the uprising. “He demanded that officers treat people with courtesy.”

Bornhoft retired as chief in 1977 and ran for City Council the next year, serving on the council for four years, twice as mayor.