Police Chief Greg Savelli, widely credited with improving police standards, forging fresh links with residents and stemming a tide of lawsuits against the city during his five-year tenure, will leave Hermosa Beach on Jan. 12 for a “new challenging opportunity.”
“I have accepted a new professional opportunity,” Savelli confirmed in an email.
“I am awaiting my new employer’s public announcement, expected next week, before commenting on the new opportunity” in detail, he said.
“I have very much enjoyed my time in Hermosa Beach. The city manager, City Council and the community have been very supportive of all my efforts to enhance the Police Department,” Savelli said on Tuesday.
“I have accepted a new challenging opportunity,” he wrote in an email to Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Watch.
“I am confident that the Police Department is on solid footing and believe the transition will go smoothly,” he wrote. “I plan to remain a resident ofHermosa Beachand look forward to seeing you all around our community.”
In an Internet posting, Neighborhood Watch cofounder Kelly Kovac-Reedy wrote that Savelli “basically shaped this city up.”
She credited the chief with developing the civilian Volunteers in Policing program, re-introducing police horseback and canine patrols, and developing “a comprehensive system” to deal with violations of city and state licenses by downtown nightspots.
“Hermosa Beach was graced by his leadership, his fair and common sense approach to community policing and his sense of humor,” Kovac-Reedy wrote.
“Greg is a great leader,” said former Councilman J.R. Reviczky at a November 2010 ceremony in which the Hermosa Beach Police Department received an elite accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement, Inc., for meeting high standards in all functions from policies and procedures to management, operations and support.
“The Department staff has been great. They have done everything that has been asked of them and to their credit, they are now nationally recognized for their efforts since achieving CALEA accreditation in November of last year,” Savelli said Tuesday.
“This is an honor awarded to few law enforcement organizations. The city, the department and I are proud of the efforts of all involved that made the Hermosa Beach Police Department a leader once again in local law enforcement,” he said.
“Our partnership with the community through Neighborhood Watch, VIPs, and our chaplains and crisis response members has really shown its value over the years, and I am pleased to have played a role in their creation or return toHermosa Beach,” Savelli said.
The three-year accreditation came after an extensive audit of conduct and standards by outside experts, an in-depth agency-wide self-evaluation, and the adoption of new directives and standards by the department.
It was the first time in the department’s seven-decade-plus history that it been awarded the accreditation by the commission.
“This is an important recognition and it’s great for the city,” Councilman Peter Tucker said. “It shows how the whole department has improved under the leadership of the chief.”
