HUNTINGTON PARK : Rialto Officer Hired to Assist Police Chief

Police Chief Randy Narramore has hired an assistant to help him accelerate changes in a department tainted by controversy over the past year.

Michael Visser, 50, started the second-in-command post last week on a three-year contract with an annual salary of $84,000.

Visser will help the chief implement a community-based policing program and defuse internal conflict that continues to haunt the 65-member department.

In the past year the department has seen allegations of misconduct and been divided by internal investigations.

Frank Sullivan resigned as chief last May amid accusations by department employees of sexual harassment, favoritism and discrimination. Investigations into those allegations halted when he stepped down. In the past year, two police officers have been fired for overtime fraud, falsifying police reports and other misconduct, department officials said.

Four other officers remain under an investigation that Visser, a graduate of the FBI academy, will now oversee.

A 25-year veteran of the Rialto Police Department in San Bernardino County, Visser left that agency as an administrative division commander. He was in charge of communications, records, training, crime analysis and the SWAT team.

In Huntington Park, his duties will include improving the image of the department and establishing a better relationship with the community.

Narramore, who became chief in April, and Visser both live in the community, a first for the city, which has always had chiefs who lived elsewhere.

Narramore said he has already taken steps to reshape the department. He cited the opening of a new four-officer substation on Pacific Boulevard, where two more bicycle patrol officers will be added by July. The police station on Miles Avenue will undergo a face-lift, with a community room added for public meetings.

One of Narramore’s proudest achievements, he said, was the creation of the Crime Suppression Unit, which targets offenders who prey on children around the city’s schools. In recent weeks, several suspects have been arrested for robbery and selling drugs, he said.

Visser said he will form a Citizens Police Academy, a program that introduces residents to the inner workings of the department.