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New police chief looks to add to legacy
by Robb Fulcher
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Police Chief Mike Lavin says he will be less colorful than his predecessor. Photo by Robb Fulcher |
Hermosa’s new police chief hopes to continue in the steps of recently retired Val Straser but with a little more morale building and, inevitably, a little less personal colorfulness.
"I want to continue the good work that we have been doing, and a lot of that is a result of Val," said Chief Mike Lavin, 45, a Hermosa native and police force lifer who was appointed to the department’s top job last week. He will make $106,000 a year and oversee 38 sworn officers, 12 non-sworn employees and 11 parking division employees.
"It’s a close-knit department and a nice place to work," Lavin said. "…I want to build on that."
Police officers necessarily do their jobs amid a routine second-guessing of citizen complaints and internal reviews. The officers may not be recognized for the good things they do, Lavin said.
"Sometimes we center so much on the negative, the mistakes, that the positives go unnoticed," he said.
"We do some employee recognition but I’d like to see it made more formal. When we promote someone we don’t make a big deal of it, but other departments hold ceremonies," Lavin said.
"That kind of thing could be done a little bit more here," he said. "Val and I talked about it, but that’s something Val just didn’t do."
Lavin, a 23-year veteran of the force, said he is "one of Val’s biggest fans." Lavin learned a great deal from Straser and wound up meeting and getting to know many of the community leaders in the former chief’s large network.
But the personal impressions left by Straser and Lavin are as different as the yin and the yang. Straser was given to eclectic metaphysical musings and discussing police work in the shades of metaphor and allegory. Lavin’s speech is as clear as Straser’s is opaque, and the new chief discusses openly how his membership in the Mormon church has molded his character.
"Val liked to keep people off guard, so you never had him figured out. He did that on purpose, like a chess player," Lavin said.
"I’m probably more direct and straightforward," he understated. "…What you see is what you get."
Church influence
His philosophy is that of a lifelong church member, he said.
"I’m a member of the Mormon church, I grew up that way, and that has had a big impact on who I am," Lavin said.
"I think we are all here for a reason. We each have opportunities to do certain things in this life. We should be the best people we can be, utilize our talents and help other people. I think one day we will all be accountable," he said.
"I want to be the best father, best husband, best police chief, whatever it is. I don’t compare myself to anyone else, I just chart my own progress. I think we are here to do the best we can."
Lavin’s eldest child, 19-year-old son Christopher, is currently on a mission in Mexico for the church. Lavin and wife Diann also have a 16-year-old daughter Brianne and a 12-year-old son Ian.
"We’ve been married 23 years, as long as I’ve been with the department," Lavin said.
Lavin holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from California State University, Dominguez Hills and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va. He was chosen for his new job from among a group of 29 applicants from throughout the western U.S.
Coming challenges
Looking to the police department’s near future, Lavin said important tasks include filling four vacant positions and studying a possible expansion of the use of volunteers to support the police force.
Changes in state regulations decimated police reserve programs in many departments including Hermosa’s, where a staff of as many as 20 reserve officers has dwindled to three.
State officials now require reserve officers to undergo training that is almost equal to that of regular officers, eliminating reserve work as an avocation for most people, Lavin said. The existing Hermosa reserves were already on duty when the regulations changed, he said.
Frothy Fourth
Lavin said he will address the city’s loud, sometimes rowdy Fourth of July in part by establishing a larger police presence along the party-hearty Strand area.
"We’ll try to put out as many people as possible, a real show of the flag," he said. "But we’re not going to change tactics. It’s not going to be a militaristic occupation force."
A larger presence will allow officers to better control noise from parties, using methods such as asking a host’s cooperation, Lavin said. Recent court decisions will also allow officers to issue infraction citations to people possessing alcohol on the beach or open containers on The Strand, he said.
Some residents complained of excessive noise and rowdiness last Independence Day, although police have pointed out that no injuries were reported and only a handful of misdemeanor arrests were made.
Lavin said the 26-year-old "Ironman" chugalug will be allowed to go off as usual on the Fourth. Last year about 150 people ran on the beach, paddled in the ocean, chugged a six-pack of beer on a sandy north Hermosa lot and usually vomited.
Despite criticism of the event from some city council members, Lavin said nobody has talked to him about trying to close down the Ironman.
"It’ll probably happen again, and we’ll probably monitor it and make sure people are safe," Lavin said.
"I’ve timed it out and it’s usually over in 90 minutes, and those people clean themselves up, they sweep the streets, they clean up after themselves," he said.
"They have a right to assemble. To stand on private property and drink until you throw up, that’s not an illegal activity." ER