LOS ALAMITOS : Police Chief Tells of Sorrow Tied to Job

After just a week as Los Alamitos’ police chief, Michael J. Skogh feels that he has already attended too many police funerals.

In his first official act Jan. 3, Skogh attended the funeral of Manhattan Beach Police Officer Martin L. Ganz, who was killed Dec. 28 during a traffic stop by a still unidentified gunman.

The funeral was particularly painful for Skogh, a captain with the Manhattan Beach Police Department before he became police chief here, because Ganz was under his command for more than four years.

“He was the first officer I lost in the line of duty in all the departments I’ve worked with,” said Skogh, 48, who has served in law enforcement posts for the past 20 years.

The day Ganz was shot, Skogh attended another funeral--this one for Los Alamitos Police Lt. Lyell Duane Swearingen, who died of a heart attack Dec. 22.

The deaths cruelly coincided with Skogh’s first days on the job and have taken “a lot out of the joy and happiness” of becoming a police chief, Skogh said.

“It was very tragic, professionally and personally,” said Skogh, a longtime Orange County resident who was picked to head the 31-member Los Alamitos police force last year after a six-month search. The city’s former police chief, James Guess, retired in August.

But Skogh said the deaths of Ganz and Swearingen also somehow brought into focus his priorities as police chief.

Skogh said he believes there is a need to review police training and practices, including how police officers maintain physical and mental fitness, although he said he does not expect “dramatic changes.”

“There are always things that we can do better,” said Skogh, who holds a degree in criminal justice from Cal State Fullerton and is a 1989 graduate of the state Police Officers Standards and Training Command College.

City Manager Robert C. Dunek said the tragic events may also provide Skogh with an opportunity to show his leadership to the department and the community.

“It’s a unique situation and challenge,” said Dunek, who was a La Palma police officer for more than five years before he became an administrator. “He can provide the stabilizing leadership and pull everyone together.”

The City Council picked Skogh last year over Police Cmdr. Gary Biggerstaff, who has served with the Los Alamitos police for more than 20 years and was acting police chief after Guess’ retirement.

Skogh said he plans to “personally speak with each employee. The key is listening to what people tell me.”

Because of the city’s continuing budgetary problems, Skogh said, the community must be more involved in law enforcement. Programs with neighboring cities must be maintained or expanded, he said.

“I’m a strong supporter of regional activities and sharing of resources,” said Skogh, who was administrative assistant to the chief of the Azusa Police Department before he joined the Manhattan Beach force in 1991.

Skogh, a native of Detroit, moved to Orange County in the 1950s and graduated from Garden Grove High School in 1963. He is married and has two teen-age children.

“I still remember the joy when I made my first arrest,” Skogh said. “If I don’t stop remembering, I’ll be OK.”