OCEANSIDE EXPANDS RECRUITMENT FOR NEXT POLICE CHIEF

Residents opposed initial focus on promoting from within the department

Oceanside’s city manager said this week she will widen the recruitment effort for the next police chief to include outside candidates, a change that came after residents objected to her initial focus on an internal promotion within the Police Department.

Joel Bryden of the executive recruiting firm Bob Murray & Associates has been contracted to manage the search, City Manager Deana Lorson said in an email Wednesday to the City Council. Bryden retired as the police chief in the Northern California city of Walnut Creek and he served 28 years with the San Diego Police Department.

“We are certainly pleased with the city manager’s decision to do the right thing, and we thank her for now taking the lead on this process,” said Max Disposti, executive director of the North County LGBTQ Resource Center in Oceanside.

“This should never have been seen as an extreme request,” Disposti said. “In fact, the process of an open search is never to discredit the potential of those that apply within the department, but it is to establish a fair hiring process that also takes into consideration other factors like diversity, community input and concerns, and experience.”

Oceanside Police Chief Frank McCoy announced in July that he would retire at the end of October. He later agreed to stay on until Dec. 28 when the search for his successor took longer than anticipated.

“We are working with Mr. Bryden to develop a candidate profile, brochure and schedule,” Lorson