EDITORIALS:Hoping top cop has long tenure

As the new police chief for Costa Mesa, Christopher Shawkey is living his lifelong dream to run his own department.

So with the Shawkey era beginning at the Costa Mesa Police Department, we are hopeful that he has considerably more longevity than his predecessor, former Chief John Hensley, whose tenure here turned out to be more of a nightmare than a dream.

Indeed, we hope Shawkey’s stay is more akin to that of former Chief Dave Snowden, who spent 16 years guiding the department with more accolades than acrimony.

It’s hard to believe that it’s going on four years since Snowden decided to call it quits and retire from the force in 2003. At the time, Snowden was hailed by his officers and the community as a great chief, and he remains a well-respected law enforcement professional, now heading the Beverly Hills Police Department.

His replacement, Hensley, had a more turbulent time as chief. Determined to change what he saw as the department’s laid-back image, Hensley changed the color of squad cars from white to the traditional black and white and ordered his detective staff to wear ties.

There was definitely a new sheriff in town with Hensley, and many of the officers quietly grumbled about it.

But Hensley’s job got even tougher with the push last year by the City Council to train Costa Mesa officers in immigration enforcement. Hensley resisted the move openly and did his best to diffuse resistance in his officer ranks and in the Latino community. But it all proved too much, and Hensley announced he was done with Costa Mesa before anyone got a chance to know him well.

Shawkey has a chance to start on a better footing. With the immigration issue basically null and void — thanks to the decision by the federal government to move a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer into Costa Mesa Jail — he can better spend his time fighting crime than fighting with the City Council.

Shawkey’s biggest challenges as he inherits a top-notch department of officers will be to stem the recent tide of gang crime in some of the city’s neighborhoods while at the same time strengthening his department’s ties with the Westside and its Latino population.

He’ll need to maintain Costa Mesa’s relatively safe environs and keep crime levels at or below those of his predecessors.

He’ll need to deal with the continued loss of veteran leadership as officers retire or move to other communities, and he’ll need to maintain what has been solid recruitment of officers over the last few years.

So we look forward to getting to know this 26-year veteran of the Phoenix Police Department as he spends the next few weeks learning about Costa Mesa and, we hope, discovering that it’s a good place to live out your dreams — and stay for a long time.