Huntington Park to Pick Permanent Chief of Beleaguered Police Force : Hiring: Officials hope new leader will help the department recover from a year marked by allegations of sexual harassment, favoritism and discrimination.

Huntington Park’s police force, dogged by allegations of misconduct and torn by internal investigations for the past year, will soon have a new top gun.

City officials hope the permanent new chief of police, to be approved as early as Monday, and begin work April 1, will help mend the beleaguered department. But some police officers would prefer that interim Chief Bill Reed remain on the job until he has completed inquiries into remaining allegations.

“Chief Reed has done a fantastic job toward changing the image of the department,” said Mike Ewing, vice president of the Huntington Park Police Officers Assn. “He’s done an honorable job in the investigations and we’ll be sorry to see him go. . . . It will be difficult for a new person to come in and continue (the investigations).”

Sullivan’s permanent replacement will face immediate challenges, said Mayor Ric Loya.

“The chief that comes in will no doubt be hit by lawsuits and still have some cleanup to do and community public relations to do along the way,” Loya said.

Among the eight finalists for the chief’s job was Bell Gardens’ current chief, Andy Romero, but council members have narrowed the field to two other applicants, one a lieutenant for Culver City, Police Department sources said.

Forty-five candidates from throughout California applied to replace Chief Frank Sullivan, who stepped down last May amid allegations of sexual harassment, favoritism and discrimination within the 65-member department.

The city hired Reed to launch investigations targeting former members of the Crime Impact Team, an elite force created in 1990 to handle drug, gang and other special assignments. He has since fired two officers for overtime fraud, falsifying police reports and other misconduct. At least four others remain under investigation.

Reed retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as a captain and is a former member of its elite Special Enforcement Bureau. He was a consultant for Huntington Park during the late ‘80s, when he devised systems to improve record-keeping and security in the police department.

The department’s troubles became public a year ago when the city settled an anti-Semitic harassment suit filed by Detective Alan Tavelman for $355,000. Tavelman, who said he was subjected to religious slurs and harassment during nine years on the force, named Sullivan, among others, in his suit. Tavelman is now an attorney.

Late last year, the city also settled with two female officers who had named Sullivan in discrimination claims. The city paid about $70,000 to Officer Yvette Polley, who had filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Sullivan and the city. Officer Gina Scolari, who requested Sullivan’s dismissal in her sexual harassment claim against the department, settled her case for about $187,000 in damages and attorney’s fees.