So, can we sue this man and recoup some of the money we've been throwing at him for 5 years? Within 6 months of hire, he was out with his first back complaint. Why would they hire a guy with a bad back in the first place? Because his stepson is a friend of Maureen Kirk. Mayor Kirk had three candidates, but she and Lando went straight to Ridgecrest to hire Hagerty. She's never explained why he was hired over the other two, even when I asked her to do so in a letter to the paper.

Hagerty took retirement from Ridgecrest when he left to come here (they were happy enough to pay to get rid of him) and now, he'll get another package from us.

Chico PD chief is a "revolving door" job. They come, they sit on their big butt, they get a pension. Even though former Chief Mike Efford retired under pressure, he still gets a pension. Besides being very upopular because he was a jerk, Efford racked up too many racially-based lawsuits. Nonetheless, Efford went right over to get the chief job at Butte College, where he will also get a pension.

Before Efford it was Chief Massey, who had been with the department about 30 years and was pissed about having been passed over for chief when they hired Mike Dunbaugh from out of town. So, when Dunbaugh left for a higher salary in Santa Rosa (here's a laugh, he wanted $65,000, and Chico wouldn't pay it), the city turned around and named Massey, just to shut him up. He was already in his 60's, and retired after about a year and a half with a full pension.

Before Dunbaugh it was Chief Bullerjahn, a legend in his own time. He was chief for too long - his department was a bunch of corrupt donut eaters who got too many lawsuits from college parents. Although they never killed anybody, at that time, Chico PD had a bad reputation for being over the line, abusive physically and verbally. They are the department that set the college kids against the cops, and here we are today, still paying for it. Bullerjahn ran the department like a crime family, code of silence and all the creepy doo-dah. He should have been fired for mishandling that first riot, instead he still collects a pension. Albeit, not as sweet as the one we are about to hand to Hagerty - his benefits package cost $90,000/year.

Of those above mentioned, Dunbaugh is the only one who walked away without a pension. He was a nice young man, very intelligent. He was the first one to ask for a Boys and Girls Club Downtown, and he really lobbied for it. I know you would have really liked him. But he had a statewide reputation as a problem solver, and Santa Rosa wanted him bad enough to offer him about a $5,000 raise. I was shocked when the city told him not to let the screendoor hit him on the ass. They'd hired him based on that reputation because the college kids had just gutted a laundry mat and burned a tv news van. He came to town and immediately developed a short-lived rapport between the college and the college cops and the city. That went with him.

So, I'd be glad if they'd just let Maloney continue in his current position, at least we've already got a few years out of him before he takes his pension. But I don't know - he's been there all along too. How much of the problem is with these revolving door chiefs, and how much of it is just ingrained in the department, among those $130,000/year staffers who've been there all along? Some of them are still there from Bullerjahn's administration.

If Maloney doesn't work out better than his recent predecessors, I'd say it's time for a housecleaning. Throw out the whole stinking fish instead of just cutting off the head.

Juanita,

As far as I know the mayor doesn't hire the PD Chief. The council hires the city attorney and city manager, everyone else is hired by one of those two positions. So Maureen Kirk, as mayor, could not have hired a police chief.

There has been a price escalation in upper management city positions. Some of this was based on the premise that we have to be able to recruit top notch people from out of town. Yet, lately, the top positions have been populated by people already on staff.

City Attorney Lori Barker, and City Manager Dave Burkland are two examples. It seems to me that promoting from within is a double edged sword. On the up side you should be able to offer salaries that are lower and retain some institutional knowledge in the position. On the down side, long term problems inherent is a department or division may not be addressed by an insider. Sometimes an outsider provides a fresh start.

I'm not privy to the problems in the PD. I'm sure there are politics, like exist in any organization. I know they are extremely well paid and they have a job that sucks. But the pay should make up for that. So we, as the public, should expect a lot of them. I don't see the department as dysfunctional.

So I think promoting from within makes sense. It should cost less, Maloney has already been doing the job, and we haven't had the greatest luck with bringing in out of town executives (Greg Jones comes to mind).

Lon

I don't get all this blather talking down the Chico PD. I have plenty of personal experiences with the department over the past 20 or so years and they have always exhibited a high degree of professionalism.

Maloney has done a fine job as acting chief, especially in these troubled times, he should get the job. The department has responded quickly and effectively to violent crime, robberies, burglaries, gang activity, and drug dealers. Of course, they can't catch every dirt bag every time, but they do a pretty durn good job from my perspective.

David,

I think it goes with the territory. That's one of the reasons I would never want the job. It would be much better to be a fireman with the same pay/benefits and a heroe's welcome wherever you go.

It's unfortunate that most people will have a negative experience with the police. Most interaction will be of the parking/speeding ticket variety. That doesn't engender a whole lot of goodwill.

They probably have the hardest and most important job in the city, and at the same time I wish there were no need for police. But there seems to be a whole segment of society that needs an authority figure to make them behave, so I think they'll be employed for quite a while.

Lon

Thanks for the link Jim, I added it to my RSS feeds.

Speaking of thankless jobs, while the following vids are amusing, would anyone want to deal with a Lawnmower Steve on a regular basis? The second video begins with the priceless statement, "Oh man, not this guy again".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNPxIibhcKY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95qZtwJNjxk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fds_hupE2vQ

Re: Juanita's "They are the department that set the college kids against the cops, and here we are today, still paying for it."

Baloney. Of the 10 thousand (give or take) students enrolled at any given time, only a small fraction behave in a criminal manner that requires a response from the Chico PD. True enough that fraction may congregate at given times in given places, but to say that Chico State college kids are set "against the department" is complete and utter nonsense.

There, I said it. It had to be said. Get real.

http://www.chicoer.com/opinion/ci_12657806

Here you go David, just what I said, in a letter written by a lady who says she actually has relatives/friends at Chico PD.

Blather, right back at you, Sweetie! Hope you're having a good weekend. I am.

I'm guessing Lon's at Toney's, that (snip!). I hope he had the courtesy to say Hello to Virginia for me.