SJPD Chief Moore Retires After 27 Years On The Force
SAN JOSE (KCBS)— After 27 years in the department, San Jose Police Chief Chris Moore retired on Friday. Moore's tenure as top cop wasn't supposed to end so soon, but the chief decided to take an early retirement following a perceived lack of support from City Hall.
SJPD named Larry Esquivel as the interim police chief on Monday, although he has said he doesn't plan on taking on the job permanently. City officials have said Moore's permanent replacement will likely come from outside the department.
The main reason Moore is leaving less than two years after taking the position is because the City Council rejected putting a half cent sales tax on the ballot to raising more money for police staffing.
Since the passage of a pension reform measure last year, officers have been leaving in droves.
"Our bottom line pay is just not competitive with other law enforcement agencies in the region and that makes just a tremendous disincentive to stay here," Moore said.
Given the highly unusual factor that none of the deputy chiefs have applied for the top job for the first time since 1975, the next chief will mostly come from the outside which Chief Moore said isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"If you bring somebody from the outside it brings a fresh perspective. If you stay internal for decades, you tend to breed the same thought process. Sometimes that's not bad and sometimes it's very healthy. Occasionally, like it was when Joe McNamara came here, [he] brought a different perspective here that was really sorely needed at the time," Moore said.
SJPD Chief Moore Retires After 27 Years On The Force
Chief Moore said he's received a lot of job offers, but intends to take the next couple of months off to decompress.
(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
