James McDonnell (born August 26, 1959) is an American law enforcement officer who has been the 59th

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

of the

Los Angeles Police Department The City of Los Angeles Police Department, commonly referred to as Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is the primary law enforcement agency of Los Angeles, California, United States. With 8,832 officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the th ...

since November 8, 2024. He is the former sheriff and head of the

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...

, the largest in the US, having been elected as L.A. County's 32nd sheriff on November 4, 2014, defeating former Undersheriff

Paul Tanaka Paul K. Tanaka (born 1959) is an American convicted felon, former politician, and former law enforcement officer who served with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department until his conviction in 2016. He was convicted April 4, 2016, in Federal ...

. He replaced interim Sheriff John Scott on December 1, 2014. Scott replaced former Sheriff

Lee Baca Leroy David Baca (born May 27, 1942) is a former American law enforcement officer and convicted felon who served as the 30th Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California from 1998 to 2014. In 2017, he was convicted of felony obstruction of justice ...

(who was also in federal prison). McDonnell was defeated for re-election as Sheriff in 2018 by

Alex Villanueva Alejandro Villanueva is a former American law enforcement officer who served as the 33rd sheriff of Los Angeles County, California from 2018 until 2022. He defeated incumbent sheriff Jim McDonnell in the 2018 L.A. County Sheriff's race, makin ...

. Previously, McDonnell served as the Chief of

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

from 2010–2014, and before that, he had served in various positions in the

from 1981–2010, including First Assistant Chief, the second-highest position in the department.

Early life and education

McDonnell grew up in a working-class neighborhood in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

. He graduated from

Saint Anselm College Saint Anselm College is a private Benedictine liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire, United States. Founded in 1889, it is named after Saint Anselm of Canterbury. As of 2024, the college's enrollment was 2,094 students. History ...

Goffstown, New Hampshire Goffstown is a New England town, town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 18,577 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The compact center of town, where 3,366 people resided at the 2020 census, is def ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in criminal justice. He then received a

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

(M.P.A.) from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Career

LAPD

McDonnell began his law enforcement career as a 21-year-old graduate from the Los Angeles Police Academy in 1981. During his 28 years of work in the LAPD, he held every rank except

Chief of Police A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the command hierarchy, chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or somet ...

and served as second in command to Chief

William Bratton William Joseph Bratton CBE (born October 6, 1947) is an American businessman and former law enforcement officer who served two non-consecutive tenures as the New York City Police Commissioner (1994–1996 and 2014–2016) and currently one of ...

. He was considered a frontrunner for the position in 2009 to replace Bratton, but Deputy Chief

Charlie Beck Charles Lloyd Beck (born June 27, 1953) is a retired American police officer, formerly serving as the Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and subsequently as the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. A veteran of the d ...

was appointed instead. While at the LAPD McDonnell was viewed as an ambassador who helped the department connect with Los Angeles' diverse communities and political leaders as Bratton's chief of staff and second-in-command. As a candidate for Chief in 2002, McDonnell presented a plan for community-based policing that was eventually adopted by Bratton and served as the foundation to overhaul and reform the LAPD. While working for the LAPD, he held a variety of assignments in patrol, detectives, vice, gang, organized crime, homicide and other divisions. In the 1990s as a commander, he gained attention for his efforts to revitalize the LAPD's senior lead officer program and to build the LAPD forerunner to the Compstat computer crime-mapping system along with helping implement the

consent decree A consent decree is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt (in a criminal case) or liability (in a civil case). Most often it is such a type of settlement in the United States. The ...

. On November 8, 2024, he was sworn in as the 59th Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. During his tenure, the

June 2025 Los Angeles protests On June6, 2025, protests erupted in Los Angeles after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided several city locations to arrest individuals allegedly involved in illegal immigration to ...

occurred and resulted in over 400 arrests and the

California National Guard The California National Guard (Cal Guard) is part of the National Guard (United States), National Guard of the United States, a dual federal–state military reserve force in the state of California. It has three components: the California Army ...

being deployed.

LBPD

After losing the LAPD Chief's job to Charlie Beck, McDonnell in March 2010 was appointed as the

police chief A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or sometimes just a chief, ...

, replacing former Chief Anthony Batts, who left to become the chief of the

Oakland Police Department The Oakland Police Department (OPD) is a law enforcement agency responsible for policing the city of Oakland, California, United States. As of May 2021, the department employed 709 sworn officers and 371 civilian employees. The department is div ...

. This occurred over objections by some in the department who preferred a chief from within the Long Beach Police Department and, indeed, a career LBPD officer would succeed McDonnell. As police chief, McDonnell oversaw a large increase in officer-involved shootings and a 20% decrease in sworn officers from 1,000 to 800. Violent crime also fell during McDonnell's tenure and he has received credit for improving community relations with the police, reducing gang activity, and trying to improve racial diversity in the department. After McDonnell's election on November 4, 2014, Deputy Chief Robert Luna was selected to replace him to become the 26th Police Chief of Long Beach. Luna was considered a frontrunner for the position before McDonnell was appointed and became the department's first Latino police chief.

LASD

McDonnell expressed support for a civilian oversight commission to supplement the new inspector general in monitoring the department but has stated that he is still evaluating whether the inspector general should have subpoena power and access to personnel records. He was sworn in on December 1, 2014, and became the first person from outside of the sheriff's department to be elected to the office of Sheriff in over 100 years. McDonnell lost his 2018 reelection bid to

, who in turn would lose a 2022 reelection bid to Robert Luna, who had been McDonnell's successor as Long Beach police chief. ;November 2014

Dates of rank

Personal life

McDonnell is married to Kathy McDonnell. They have two daughters.

References

External links

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, Jim 1959 births American municipal police chiefs Living people Law enforcement officials from California Los Angeles County, California, sheriffs Los Angeles Police Department officers Law enforcement officials from Boston People from Long Beach, California Law enforcement officials from Los Angeles Saint Anselm College alumni USC Sol Price School of Public Policy alumni