PV Estates police chief resigns after one year
Palos Verdes Estates Police Chief John Eberhard. Photo courtesy of PVE
Palos Verdes Estates Police Chief John Eberhard announced his retirement last week at end of October, exactly one year after accepting the position as chief.
PVE City Manager Anton Dahlerbach, who was not in office during Eberhard’s promotion to chief, said an interim police chief would be appointed while the city looks for a permanent replacement.
“Chief Eberhard’s been great for the community and has done a lot of good things,” Dahlerbach said. “I understand that after 30 years he’s been here a long time. I respect that he wants to retire at this point. It’s his decision.”
Eberhard’s been credited for developing and leading PVE-CARES, a community program for seniors/elderly and any “dependent adult” age 18 to 64 in Palos Verdes Estates. The program that began in 2005 has over 736 participants and 21 volunteers.
Eberhard, who’s worked for the PVE Police Department for nearly 30 years, last year was promoted from captain earning $123,552 to chief with a salary of $158,832. Along with earning more money, Eberhard will be eligible for additional retirement compensation under the California Public Employees Retirement System.
PERS spokeswoman Amy Norris confirmed that retirement benefits for Palos Verdes Estates employees are based on the highest final 12 months of pay. Norris said in general PERS administrators have ways to flag circumstances when individuals might be trying to “spike” the system, but could not say whether Eberhard’s one-year promotion would rise to that level.
“In general, we have several parameter checks including pay rate, and percentage of increase between different fiscal years,” Norris said. “If something falls outside the parameters, it is examined more closely before the retirement calculation is approved.”
Eberhard did not respond to requests for comment. ER