Police chief during McMartin case refused to charge abuse suspects
Harry Kuhlmeyer joined the Manhattan Beach Police Department in the early 1950s and was named chief in 1980. Photo courtesy of the Manhattan Beach Police Department Shortly after Harry Kuhlmeyer returned from fighting in World War II in Italy with the Tenth Mountain Division, he turned down a contract to play with the Boston Red Sox. He didn’t like the weather back east and decided instead to become a police officer to pay his way through law school. During an interview with the Santa Monica Police Department, the chief asked him why he wanted to be a police officer. Kuhlmeyer answered, “Hell, I’m just looking for a job.” He was hired that day. Kuhlmeyer passed away Jan. 12 at age 94 in the Santa Monica home where he was born and raised. In 1953, Kuhlmeyer joined the Manhattan Beach Police Department, where he rose through ranks to become chief in 1980. Three years later, in August 1983, the frank-talking, low profile chief was presented with the McMartin Preschool case. Therapists and medical doctors identified dozens of McMartin preschool children as sexual abuse victims. Raymond Buckey, the sole male teacher at the preschool, owned by his grandmother Virginia McMartin, was the…
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