By Stephanie Dazio and Michael R. Blood
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles police chief announced his retirement from the head of one of the nation’s largest law enforcement agencies Friday.
Chief Michel Moore is stepping down in February but will remain on as a consultant for an undetermined amount of time.
“During my tenure, I know I’ve made mistakes and missteps,” Moore said during a news conference with Mayor Karen Bass. “But I’m also confident that my work has seen success across a broad spectrum of topics, unmatched by any other law enforcement agency in this country.”
The Board of Police Commissioners will appoint an interim chief ahead of a nationwide search. The next leader will be charged with overseeing security during the 2028 Olympics.
Moore became the city’s top police officer in 2018. Although he was reappointed last year for a second five-year term as chief and repeatedly said he did not plan to serve the full five years, the news of his retirement was unexpected. The press conference advisory from the mayor’s office, released 45 minutes before it began Friday afternoon, did not even list a topic.
Choking up, Moore said he and his wife plan to move closer to their out-of-state daughter. He called it a “distinct honor and privilege to have served for more than four decades on the finest police department in the world and for the last five-and-a-half years as chief.”
The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents rank-and-file officers, praised Moore’s “open-door policy that allowed the LAPPL to deliver the perspective of the rank and file on various issues.”
“Although we did not always agree, we had a respectful and productive relationship,” the league’s board of directors said in a statement. They urged the selection of a new chief who is “committed to rebuilding the ranks of the department, reducing violent crime, and improving morale.”
Moore’s tenure also overlapped with a long-running debate over Proposition 47, which was passed by California voters in 2014 and reclassified felony theft offenses as misdemeanors. Critics have blamed the change for fueling a rash of smash-and-grab robberies, but supporters say it does not allow shoplifting and petty theft to go unprosecuted. Bass credited Moore with forming a task force to address smash-and-grab thefts, adding that they had declined since the formation of the group.