LAPD Chief Attends Swearing-In Event

Family, friends and colleagues past and present--including Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks--watched the swearing in this week of Oxnard Police Chief Art Lopez and Fire Chief Joe Milligan.

Lopez, 48, is the former deputy chief and Central Division Bureau commanding officer for the LAPD; Milligan, 52, is the former assistant chief to the Pasadena Fire Department.

Both began their tenure Nov. 2.

“I am honored to be here,” Lopez told the crowd Tuesday.

“I get to work with a fine council, a great boss in a fine city. . . . I’m truly blessed to have the opportunity to serve the community.”

Parks took the podium to describe his former colleague as a “very special person.”

“He’s given three decades of his life to the Los Angeles Police Department,” Parks said.

“If you don’t already know, you have a person with significant interest in the community.

“You can tell by all the people from Los Angeles who are here right now.”

Steve Kasten, president of the Lincoln Heights Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles, said Lopez was instrumental in community policing by working with youth in that area.

“Your children are really going to be rewarded,” Kasten said.

“Seniors and kids are special people who Art has connected with.”

Milligan, who said he was honored and hoped to have a long tenure at the Oxnard Fire Department, introduced the city’s seven new firefighters and others recently promoted at the department.