Chief Jim McDonnell

01 Feb Chief Jim McDonnell

Jim McDonnell was appointed 25th Chief of Police for the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) in March 2010. Chief McDonnell is responsible for a department consisting of 1,500 employees and a $200 million budget.

During his first year with the LBPD, a number of innovative technologies and data driven crime strategies were employed leading the city to experience unprecedented crime declines. Homicides went down by 25%, with a clearance rate of 90%; the lowest number in 40 years. Gang homicides went down an incredible 53.8%. During 2011, the overall homicide rate decreased an additional 20%, the lowest since the 1960s.

McDonnell served with the Los Angeles Police Department for 29 years and held every rank in the department, ultimately serving as Chief of Staff, second-in-command of the LAPD. He has received numerous community and department awards, including the LAPD’s highest award for bravery, the Medal of Valor.

Chief McDonnell serves on numerous Boards of Directors that focus on furthering the interests of local youth and leadership in the policing profession on a local, statewide and national level. He is an active member of several more organizations, such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police; Fight Crime: Invest in Kids; Southern California Leadership Network; California Police Chiefs’ Association; and Peace Officer’s Association of Los Angeles County.

He also serves as a Commissioner on the California Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards & Training (POST) and the L.A. County Commission on Jail Violence. McDonnell is a member of the California Peace Officers’ Association, (Immediate Past President) and currently serves as First Vice President for the Los Angeles County Police Chiefs Association.

McDonnell was recently appointed to the U.S. Attorney General’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence and is participating in two U.S. Department of Justice National Executive Sessions; the National Executive Session on Law Enforcement & Public Health: Inter-Disciplinary Strategies and the National Executive Session on Police Legitimacy and Racial Reconciliation.

Chief McDonnell holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California. He is also a graduate of the FBI’s prestigious National Executive Institute, the Senior Management Institute for Police and has completed Executive Education programs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.