Tangney Appointed Long Beach Police Commissioner

The Long Beach City Council will vote on the appointment of Michael Tangney to commissioner of the Long Beach Police Department at a special meeting Saturday, following an induction ceremony held Friday afternoon at City Hall.  

Wearing his uniform and surrounded by family and friends, Tangney was sworn in by City Court Judge Roy Tepper, and was joined on the podium by City Manager Jack Schnirman, Council President Fran Adelson and Councilman Mike Fagen, the only council members in attendance.

"I think I am the first to be sworn in wearing my uniform,” said Tangney, a 34-year member of the LBPD, when talking about his fellow officers. “I want to represent them, I want to show my gratitude toward them, I want to show my appreciation for them and I want to show that I emulate every single cop."

According to city charter, the city manager appoints the police commissioner and the city council must approve the candidate. The vote must be announced to the public 12 hours before it is cast. The council will vote on Tangney’s appointment at 12 p.m. Saturday at City Hall, according to an email to Patch from City Clerk Dave Fraser.

Adelson said the induction ceremony was held Friday in order to accommodate members of Tangney’s family. "This is a ceremonial swearing in because his daughter is leaving for Spain tomorrow and we didn't want her to miss this,” she said.

After the Democrats won back the majority on the City Council last November, , and Schnirman in early January appointed Tangney to acting commissioner. Later that month, Schnirman announced that the city had formed a six-member search committee to find a permanent police commissioner that included City Councilman Scott Mandel, former City Manager Glen Spiritis, and Williams Owens, a former director of security at Long Beach Medical Center.

Fagan said that 13 candidates applied for the position and that the committee met twice with the final candidates. "There were two meetings including the last one where the three finalists came in to make their pitch,” Fagen said. "There were 13 candidates, three finalists and Tangney was the winner."

A lifelong Long Beach resident, Tangney is a former Long Beach Board of Education trustee and the husband of Darlene Tangney, a sitting school board trustee who ran as a Democrat for the 4th Legislative District seat but lost to Republican incumbent Denise Ford last November.

Asked if there was political favoritism involved in selecting Tagney to commissioner, a charge leveled by critics of the Democrat administration, Fagen dismissed the charge. "This is not a political ploy in anyway,” he said.

"I fully supported his consideration from day one,” he added. “I'm pleased that the voting process confirmed it."