LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass today participated in the ceremonial swearing-in ceremony of Chief Jim McDonnell, who was confirmed last week. This confirmation continues the Mayor’s work to reduce crime and make L.A. safer in every neighborhood. Watch the full ceremony here.
Read Mayor Bass’ remarks as delivered below:
“Good morning, everyone. This is a day of celebration in Los Angeles. This is a new and exciting day for public safety in our city as we officially swear in Jim McDonnell as the 59th Chief of Police of the Los Angeles Police Department. I am very clear that my number one job as Mayor is to keep people safe and that the only way to improve safety in Los Angeles is to make change.
“I want to be clear that the Chief is on the job for one week and has already hit the ground running – meeting with officers and members of the community and getting to work on growing and strengthening the LAPD, work on strengthening community relations and ensuring that our city is prepared for what is to come. That's why Chief McDonnell was selected and why he was approved by the City Council because as probably the only person in our city's history with experience in senior leadership of the top three law enforcement agencies in our region, I know we will be prepared for the World Cup, the Olympics and everything that is ahead of for us.
“Before we officially swear in the Chief, I want to thank Interim Chief Dominic Choi for leading the Los Angeles Police Department for the last six months. His experience and steady leadership have been invaluable to all of Los Angeles.
“I also want to thank former Chief Moore. It was great to see you and you look like you are having a ball.
“I want to thank the Board of Police Commissioners, the City Council's Public Safety Committee and our leader, Monica Rodriguez, and the full L.A. City Council, for your careful deliberation.
“Each of you played a major role to ensure that the City of Los Angeles got the right person during this right time.
“Most of all, I want to thank the officers of the department. I met with many of you over the past months at nearly 20 different stations across the city.
“You said you wanted a leader. Someone with proven leadership who knows how to get the job done to make our city safer for all. Well, here's your man. Chief McDonnell, please join me as I administer the oath of office.”