Once a visitor, Robert Thompson says he’s humbled to be Laguna Beach’s police chief

Before he was named the chief of police for Laguna Beach, Robert Thompson became acquainted with the coastal town during occasional visits with his wife and kids. Now he’s here on a more permanent basis.

Thompson, 48, who started his new role as Laguna’s top cop on Jan. 18, previously held the same position for the city of Dixon in Northern California. Prior to that, the Missouri native worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in its Sacramento Division for 15 years.

In an interview Monday, Thompson said he was a police cadet at the age of 13, and his career in law enforcement began when he joined the police department in his hometown of St. Louis, Mo. when he was just 21.

Thompson was proud of his work at the Dixon Police Department, so if he were to consider moving to Orange County, an idea his wife endorsed, it had to be the right fit.

“It had to be something that worked, and this was a city we frequently visited as tourists,” Thompson said. “So the opportunity presented itself, and I was fortunate enough to make it through the process, convinced that I would wash out at any moment, because just the number of people in Southern California, police officers that would be competing, I wasn’t sure how far I would get, so very humbled and grateful for the opportunity.”

Laguna Beach City Manager John Pietig, who has been a part of the hiring process for four police chiefs during his time with the city, said 47 candidates applied for the position. Ten applicants went on to be interviewed by a panel of professionals and city executives.

Thompson’s starting salary is $220,500, according to Pietig. At the time of retirement for the city’s previous police chief Laura Farinella, she was earning $227,241.

Having just gotten started at his new post, Thompson said it is his intent to watch, listen and learn at the beginning of his tenure. He added that he wants to emphasize community engagement, which was also a focus of Farinella’s in her time with the city.

“That was a real positive attribute that Laura Farinella had,” Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen said. “She was great in community meetings, she was great at speaking plainly to the public about issues, great at following up when they had questions and concerns, and I’m hopeful that Chief Thompson will do the same. I believe he will.

“He came from a small community, so he sort of knows the dynamics of a small community and the residents’ concerns and issues, so he’s service-oriented, I believe, and I think he’ll instill that in the department.”

Laguna Beach Police Chief Robert Thompson succeeded Laura Farinella in that position in January.

(Scott Smeltzer / Staff Photographer)

So how would Thompson see civic engagement carried out? With an “all-hands-on-deck” approach, he said, including sustained interaction outside of times of crisis.

“If you are used to seeing beach patrol people and they’re very friendly and they give directions in a non-enforcement context, you start to build rapport, which allows you to leverage that in a time of crisis because you’re seen as dependable, reliable and approachable,” Thompson said.

“Part of that is internal. Are we putting people in places where they’re going to have those positive interactions? That’s not just generalized staff, but that’s like your community outreach officers or your business liaison officers, people who are tasked to do community outreach and to make sure that they are accessible to members of the community with just general questions or concerns, but that also includes police department administration.”

In Dixon, Thompson oversaw policing in a town of about 21,000 people. By the numbers, Laguna Beach was similar in that respect. Thompson joked that the fact that the cities have similar populations is “true at 3 o’clock in the morning.”

“This is a city that gets 6.5 million visitors a year, so you do that math and it punches way above its weight class in what services are expected,” Thompson said. “You’re dealing with … millions of visitors a year, and the research indicates a lot of those are day-trippers. They’re coming from other parts of Orange County or Southern California, so you are actually policing a massively larger number of people than exist on a ‘Welcome to Laguna Beach’ sign.”

Thompson said he has a bachelor’s degree in political science and history, a master’s degree in public management and a post-master’s certificate in psychology. He attended undergraduate and graduate school at Webster University in St. Louis. His post-master’s work was done through the FBI university education program in Quantico, Va.

Thompson consulted city officials of the past and present, including Farinella and Pietig, to gain perspective on the job and town he was walking into. Those conversations gave Thompson the understanding that Laguna Beach is a community that is engaged, has high expectations of city services and views quality-of-life issues as important.

“One of the things that the city manager said to me that Chief Farinella echoed is people choose to be in Laguna, people choose to live here, people choose to work here,” Thompson said. “It’s not a place you just sort of happen upon, and so when you have such a strong motivation like that, people choosing to be here means they’re very invested in making sure that the things here are successful.”

He called 2020 an exceptionally trying year, one that was defined by both a global pandemic and what he described as “what is going to have to be the inevitable evolution of policing in America.”

“To the extent of a local level, that evolution can take place in partnership with the community,” Thompson said. “I think I want to lean in very heavily to that. Policing will be different in 2021 than it was in 2018. How it will be different is something I hope we come to agreement on together and not something that external forces force upon us.”

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