SMPD Lieutenant Johnson Leaving, Replacement Unknown

After about seven years at the San Marino Police Department, Lieutenant Steve Johnson will be leaving next week for a police captain job at the Hermosa Beach Police Department.

The SMPD will not hire a permanent replacement for Johnson, who has also served as the SMPD Public Information Officer, until after the results of the public safety tax vote on the November ballot, said . The tax provides a third of the public safety budget and the voting results have also kept the from permanently replacing former Fire Chief Jim Anderson until after the Nov. 8 election.

When the time comes to hire a new, permanent lieutenant, the SMPD will promote a current sergeant within the department. All five sergeants—Paula Byrd, Robert Cervantes, Aaron Londé, Richard Ward and Jay Wilburn—are eligible for the position and will undergo tests to determine who receives the promotion, said Schaefer.

Wilburn will take over Johnson’s PIO duties in the interim, since he has a Monday to Thursday schedule, like that of Johnson.

“What I’m trying to do right now is at least get the tests going so that if the public safety tax passes we can rapidly hire someone,” said Schaefer.

While Johnson said he got a “really good offer” from the Hermosa Beach PD, he gushed about the people he will miss in San Marino.

“I’ll miss the people in the community, the people at City Hall, the firefighters, police officers and all the support personnel within the police department.

“[City manager] Matt Ballantyne and [Assistant City Manager] Cindy Collins—two of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met in my life,” said Johnson. “And what a great city council; I’ve never seen such a personable group where anyone can talk to them and they will actually give you the floor time and really try to work with you.”

Law enforcement in the beach community of Hermosa Beach will be similar to Johnson’s previous 18-year job as Senior Sergeant at the Huntington Beach Police Department, which once arrested over 800 people on the night of July 4 due to rioting and burning furniture in bonfires, Johnson said.

“I was [in San Marino] about two or three days when we had our fourth of July and … it was a unique experience in that I was so used to Huntington Beach fourth of July,” said Johnson. “I was all geared up going, ‘When’s the bonfire?’ and people said, ‘That doesn’t happen here’.”

Johnson recalled a particular highlight of his time at the SMPD was catching the “Mickey Mouse bandit”—a man who wore a Mickey Mouse hat and robbed a San Marino bank and a slew of other banks and nail salons in the LA area.

SMPD got a lead on the bandit and Johnson and another officer chased him through the streets of LA at night while Johnson said officer Dave Anderson eventually caught the robber.

“He got charged with 1700 years,” said Johnson. “That’s the longest sentence in the history of Los Angeles County.”

NBC Los Angeles reported in March 2010 that the bandit got 1948 years to life.