San Gabriel Valley : Top LAPD Officials Vie for Pasadena Post
Ronald Banks, the Los Angeles Police Department’s second-highest-ranking official, is on the short list of candidates for the top law enforcement job in Pasadena, sources said Friday.
The list of eight candidates also includes another top LAPD official, Cmdr. Art Lopez, who serves as the assistant commanding officer of the Police Department’s Headquarters Bureau and who has spent his entire career with the LAPD.
Lopez said Friday that he is honored to be among a strong field of candidates for the Pasadena job, and added: “I just see it as a great opportunity to work in a great community with a great police department.”
Lopez and Banks, both of whom are senior LAPD staff members, are vying to succeed Pasadena Chief Jerry Oliver, who left last year to become the chief of police in Richmond, Va. According to sources, other candidates include Gary Bennett, a commander with the Pasadena Police Department, as well as at least one other internal candidate, one from the Los Angeles Unified School District, one from San Diego and two others.
Pasadena City Manager Phil Hawkey will choose the next chief, but he is being advised by a committee of community representatives.
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