LOS ALAMITOS : Council OKs Hiring of New Police Chief

After a five-month search, a captain with the Manhattan Beach Police Department has been hired as the city’s new police chief.

Michael J. Skogh, 48, was picked from a pool of more than 50 applicants that included the current acting police chief, Police Cmdr. Gary Biggerstaff, who has run the department since Police Chief James Guess retired in August.

City officials said that Biggerstaff will remain acting police chief until Skogh begins work on Jan. 3.

“We’re very impressed with Mike’s credentials and with him as a person,” said Mayor Anthony R. Selvaggi, after the City Council unanimously approved Monday the recommendation to hire Skogh.

“We feel that he will fit in very well and provide visionary leadership for our Police Department,” Selvaggi said.

Skogh will be paid about $80,000 a year in addition to retirement, health, life and dental insurance benefits, and the use of a car, according to City Manager Robert C. Dunek, who recommended Skogh’s hiring.

Dunek said a consultant, David M. Griffith and Associates Ltd. of Carmichael, Calif., helped the city in the search that started in July. Applicants included police chiefs from communities around the state and captains and lieutenants from Orange County cities.

In the end, Dunek said, it came down to a choice between Skogh, currently responsible for patrol and traffic services for the Manhattan Beach Police Department, and Biggerstaff, a 25-year veteran of the Los Alamitos Police Department.

Skogh, who has a 19-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son, has been a longtime Orange County resident, starting his career with the Orange Police Department in 1968.

He has worked with the Azusa Police Department before joining the Manhattan Beach Police Department as captain in charge of administration and investigations in 1989. He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration from Cal State Fullerton and graduated from the state Police Officers Standards and Training Command College in 1989.

“Getting to know the people in the department and in the community will be the critical challenge in the next several months,” said Skogh, adding that he does not intend to make immediate changes within the department.

“I’m a strong believer in quality contact with people,” Skogh said. “I support the philosophy of community-oriented policing.”

The city has also hired Victor Rollinger as public services director and city engineer. The council has combined the two positions following the retirement of Public Works Director Jerry Andersen in October.

Rollinger’s salary of about $79,000 a year will still be a bargain, city officials said, because of the combination of the public works director and city engineer positions.

Previously, the city had contracted with a consultant, BSI Inc. of Santa Ana, to provide engineering services.