The next Los Angeles police chief stands to receive more compensation than Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, the chiefs of New York City and Chicago, the nation’s two largest police departments, and even the president of the United States.
The Los Angeles Police Department’s civilian watchdog, the Police Commission, is proposing to pay Jim McDonnell an annual salary of $507,509, significantly more than his successor, Chief Michelle Moore. The salary proposal submitted Thursday is expected to be discussed in committee next week, but still requires City Council approval.
The pay is at the high end of the salary range for the position announced several months ago by Bob Murray & Associates, the Northern California firm that led the national lead search. The $500,000 figure represents McDonnell’s proposed base salary and does not include benefits or potential bonuses. It also does not include pension payments collected from former law enforcement agencies.
McDonnell did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment through a department spokesperson.
As the debate over police spending unfolds, the pay is sure to provoke resistance.
Last year, the City Council approved a four-year package of raises and bonuses for rank-and-file police officers, over the objections of critics who said the deal was too expensive and would leave them without paying for basic services.
McDonnell was appointed to the post last month, defeating finalists Emada Tingirides, a former Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief, and Robert “Bobby” Arcos, a former deputy chief with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
McDonnell appeared before the City Council Public Safety Committee on Tuesday to answer questions about his views on immigration, traffic enforcement and non-military alternatives to police response. After a public comment period in which many spoke against McDonnell’s appointment, the commission voted 4-1 to have his name considered by the full council on Nov. 8. If approved, McDonnell will be sworn in on November 14.
He spent the last few years working at USC, running the school’s Institute for Safe Communities. Records released by the city also show that McDonnell owns a consulting firm and earns between $10,010 and $100,000 a year.
His predecessor’s salary also came under scrutiny. When Moore was first hired, his base salary from the police department was $350,000. But after enrolling in a controversial retirement plan known as the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), he collected a total of nearly $600,000 annually. The program essentially pays veteran police officers and firefighters twice their pay during the final five years of their careers. Moore temporarily retired before becoming chief and received a lump-sum severance payment of $1.27 million from the city.
Historically, some LAPD chiefs have outperformed their civilian bosses, the mayor. Even with the extra zeros in his bank account, Mr. McDonnell still wouldn’t be the highest-paid executive in the city.
Department of Water and Power general manager Janice Quiñones, who was appointed to the role this spring, will earn $750,000 a year, nearly twice as much as her predecessor, Marty Adams.
Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based police think tank, said the LAPD chief’s job has “traditionally been one of the highest-paying jobs in the country, if not the best.” It’s one of the.”
Roughly three-quarters of large-city police departments have changed leadership in recent years, Wechsler said, as police budgets remain flat or increase in cities across the country. That’s what it means.
“Police officers’ salaries are increasing nationwide due to a significant increase in retirements and retirees,” Wexler said. “So overall police compensation has increased rapidly, so you could say that the chief’s salary has increased at the same level.”
According to the 2021 PERF survey, about 7% of the 335 chiefs surveyed reported an annual income of $250,000 or more.
The NYPD’s last two standing commissioners had salaries of about $243,000, according to news accounts. Chicago Police Department Superintendent Garry MacArthur earns about $260,000 a year, according to city records.
By comparison, Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will be paid $400,000 a year as commander in chief of the United States, regardless of who wins the presidential election.
