MAYWOOD : Bowman Named Chief of Police

The City Council last week officially hired Police Capt. Gil Bowman as chief of the 26-officer Maywood Police Department.

Bowman, a 22-year Police Department veteran and a Maywood native, will move into the chief’s office upon retirement at the end of the month of Theodore Heidke, who has held the city’s top law enforcement position for the past 14 years.

“The best part of managing the department is (that) you get to carry out your ideas,” said Bowman, adding that he plans to place more emphasis on getting police officers involved in community events.

The City Council voted 5-0 on Tuesday to hire Bowman, 47, who is married with four children. The new chief is expected to earn an annual salary of about $72,000, city officials said.

A month ago, the council voted 4-0 in favor of hiring Bowman, with Councilwoman Elvira Moreno abstaining on the grounds that she did not know Bowman well enough to approve the hire. After the councilwoman and candidate met and talked, Moreno agreed to support Bowman.

The second vote Tuesday was held to show unanimous support for the new chief, who was the only candidate considered for the job.

Maywood, which covers a 1.5-square-mile area, and its 28,500 citizens represent the highest population density in the state.

“We have a lot of the same problems and the same sort of (criminals) that our neighboring cities have,” Bowman said. “There were gangs when I started here. . . . There used to be more knives and chains and throwing things, now (gang members carry) more guns.”

Last year, there were two homicides in Maywood and the year before that, seven.