SWAT Team Director Named Interim Chief of Oxnard Police

City leaders appointed SWAT team director Cmdr. John Crombach to temporarily replace Oxnard Police Chief Harold Hurtt, whose last day on the job was Tuesday.

Crombach, 44, assumes leadership today of the 240-employee department. He will serve as chief until a permanent replacement is chosen by City Manager Ed Sotelo in late July. Earlier this month, Hurtt accepted the job as chief of Phoenix’s much larger police force.

“I was surprised,” Crombach said after Tuesday night’s council meeting. “We’ve got some great people here and to be put in the position to be the chief, even in an interim capacity, is a huge honor.”

Crombach has said he will not seek the position permanently because he wants to become better versed in other areas of the department before applying to be chief.

Those from inside the department who have applied for the job are Assistant Chief Tom Cady, head of the investigation and administrative divisions, and Assistant Chief Stan Myers, who oversees the department’s patrol operations.

After his term as interim chief, Crombach will be reassigned as commander of the investigations unit. The new head of the city’s SWAT team will be Sgt. Mike Matlock, who will be promoted Saturday to the position of commander, Crombach said.

Crombach is a 20-year law enforcement veteran who has spent the last 13 years at the Oxnard Police Department. He was promoted to sergeant in 1990 and to commander in 1995.

He started in 1975 as a reserve officer at the Port Hueneme Police Department. He has also worked for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and the Ventura Police Department, he said.

Crombach is married to Danita Crombach, communications manager for the Sheriff’s Department. The couple have three children; Chris, 23, Brian, 19, and Amanda, 15.