Fountain Valley police chief will retire June 1 to take L.A. airports job

Fountain Valley Police Chief Dan Llorens, who has served with the department for nearly 30 years and led it since 2011, announced he will retire June 1.

In a letter to Interim City Manager John Sibley on April 24, Llorens said he accepted a position with the Los Angeles World Airports as assistant police chief, which will have him overseeing the day-to-day work of officers at LAX and Van Nuys Airport.

“You’ve got to respect a man whose spent nearly 30 years in one city,” Sibley said of Llorens. “He’s going to be missed and his legacy is going to be a hard one for the next chief to follow.”

Capt. Kevin Childe, a 26-year department veteran, will act as interim chief. Childe will serve until the City Council appoints a new chief.

Llorens wrote in his letter how he was underemployed when he left the Marines 30 years ago. He owes the city, staff, council and residents an “enormous debt,” he wrote.

“Having failed to convince three other police departments it was in their best interests to hire me, somehow Fountain Valley did,” Llorens wrote. “I hope by some measures my labors since that time has helped repay this debt.”

Llorens began his career at the department in 1988 while studying at the Golden West College Criminal Justice Training Center, where he was elected class president and received awards for marksmanship and leadership.

He steadily moved up the ranks, and on Nov. 17, 2011, he became the city’s fifth police chief. He replaced Paul Sorrell, who retired after leading the department for about eight years.

Llorens could not be reached for additional comment Friday.

Councilman Mark McCurdy applauded Llorens during Tuesday’s City Council meeting for his kindness and approachable nature.

He said Llorens was easy to work with.

“I think he set a standard that I hope other chiefs … look [to] and they try to follow his example,” McCurdy said.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN