EL SEGUNDO HERALD July 29, 2021 Page 11
Chief Whalen from front page
“He was good at encouraging his department
to see itself as the community partner,”
the city manager said. At the same time,
he cared about the officers, and he worked
well with the other departments, his former
boss noted.
Thinking about his officers and their safety
as they masked up during the COVID-19 spike
in infections and kept answering service calls
kept Whalen up at night. Also, the prosecution
of Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin cast
every police department in a bad light. Whalen
had done so much in his law-enforcement
career and witnessed so many tough situations
himself - an occupational hazard of the
profession - that he knew the time to step
away from police work was drawing near.
He did just that on July 3, exactly four years
to the day he had started as El Segundo’s police
chief. The city manager tried to change his mind,
even refusing to accept Whalen’s resignation
the first time the subject was raised. At a time
when a fresh perspective about policing was
needed, El Segundo had a chief who’d done
his research and publicly acknowledged that
U.S. law enforcement had a history that, in
Whalen’s own words, “wasn’t great.”
Here was a police chief with a master’s
degree who’d published an article on implicit
bias in policing. Whalen, who started his lawenforcement
career at Garden Grove Police
Department before moving over to Irvine,
where he rose through the ranks to captain,
became a strong advocate along the way for
treating all citizens equally, regardless of their
race. He also backed efforts at building strong
ties between police and their communities and
improving race relations.
The distrust between people of color and officers
flared in 2020 with the death of George
Floyd, who died after Minneapolis police officer
Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for
almost nine minutes until Floyd quit breathing.
The deadly encounter, which a bystander videotaped
on a cell phone, sparked social-justice
protests and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Looters sensing an opportunity, took to the
streets in nearby Santa Monica and Beverly
Hills, smashing store windows and breaking
into retailers.
Social-media posts pointed the looters to
extend the mayhem and damage in beach cities,
including Manhattan Beach. It never happened.
However, it was a threat that Chief Whalen
and his command staff took most seriously.
The decision in 2017 to bring in an outsider
Sports from page 5
a building past the centerfield fence to give El
Segundo a 5-4 lead. Brooks came on in relief
and shut down Sherman Oaks in the fifth and
sixth innings, and ESLL hung on for the win.
El Segundo faced Park View Little League
in the second game and came away with a
6-0 win. Jaxon Kalish and Declan McRoberts
combined to give up just one hit and strike out
11. Brooks led the offense by going 2-for-3
with three RBIs.
El Segundo played Orcutt National last night,
with the winner advancing to the winner’s
bracket final on Friday night. The championship
game is scheduled for Sunday at 11 a.m. and
Monday at 6:30 p.m. should a second game
be necessary.
El Segundo Girls Softball
10u All-Stars Finish an Impressive
All-Star Season
The El Segundo Girls Softball 10u All-Stars
finished tied for 7th at the Nationals Tournament
that was played in Sacramento. El Segundo
faced teams from Northern and Southern
California, but the highlight of the tournament
was a come-from-behind victory over Torrance.
Finley Green came on in relief for El Segundo.
The El Segundo Girl’s softball 10u team celebrates a successful All-Star run.
as chief was controversial, and some
longtime members of the police force left
or retired. Mayor Drew Boyles thinks Chief
Whalen was, in hindsight, the perfect choice
to take over command at ESPD. “He has the
perfect demeanor and subject matter expertise
on implicit bias to have led us through the
social protests and pandemic,” the mayor told
The Herald.
Whalen left having accomplished many of
the things he set out to do, including having
the police department’s patrol division fully
staffed. (Recent budget cuts after the pandemic
have changed that.) Back in 2017, though, El
Segundo couldn’t attract enough new officers
and supervisors, who were finding better
career opportunities with the Los Angeles
Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department.
Added training, more task forces, and
introducing drones to El Segundo that have
solved crimes and located wanted individuals
put ESPD on par with other Southern California
law enforcement agencies.
Losing a chief who’d built up the patrol
ranks of the department and upgraded the
police department’s facilities and equipment
was unthinkable at the time, Mitnick revealed.
Whalen “had social-justice issues in his skill
set” before arriving on the scene in El Segundo,
the city manager agreed. One of the first things
Whalen did in the summer of 2017 was to
remove ‘support-the-blue” stickers from El
Segundo patrol cars. His reasoning was that
ESPD is a member of the community, just
like everyone else.
It took a dinner meeting between the city
manager, the chief, and his wife to convince
Mitnick to let Whalen leave on his terms. Reluctantly,
the city manager accepted the chief’s
decision to step down in the summer of 2021.
Despite the intense pressures last year had
on his officers to protect the community, while
at the same time, social distancing for their
personal safety, Chief Whalen promised the
city manager to do his part, to meet a midyear
mandate to cut costs and leave open positions
unfilled. The chief made hiring another priority
and leaves with his command staff intact. That
includes Capt. Jaime Bermudez, who stepped
into the role of interim police chief.
Bermudez has 29 years on the force and
is well-liked by El Segundo’s rank-and-file
officers and department heads at City Hall.
As Whalen had hoped, city officials plan to
evaluate the interim chief’s performance over
the next several months rather than start a
nationwide search for a new chief, as was
initially planned.
Chief Whalen
Whalen experienced the rigors of police
work, having been a patrolman, motorcycle
cop, detective, and SWAT member - among
his many assignments for the Garden Grove
and Irvine departments. Having witnessed so
much trauma in his own career, he made mental
health a priority for the ESPD. According
to Whalen, officers who have post-traumatic
stress disorder, or PTSD, is an all-too-common
occupational hazard that departments must address.
He leaves ESPD having created a strong
peer support and chaplain program to assist
the sworn officers in coping with grief and
emotions that follow traumatic and stressful
events on the job.
The good changes the chief introduced
included a major upgrade to the police department
firing range. New flooring was installed
inside the police headquarters, and the department
switched from black-and-white sedans
to sport utility vehicles. According to the city
manager, patrol officers now have the right
communications equipment and training to
protect El Segundo residents and businesses in
both emergency and non-emergency situations.
Under Whalen, the department was reorganized
with the goal of making ESPD better able
to serve the community and operate efficiently.
A crime analyst position was created to boost
crime prevention by using data to pinpoint
where police resources should be focused. The
chief saw a community-engagement division
started and was a huge proponent of the National
Night Out that brings police officers and
residents together in a meet-and-greet format.
Being an open and accessible chief of police
was always at the top of his personal goals
during his time in El Segundo, Whalen said
in a statement released in mid-May.
“I have tried very hard in my career to move
the needle in a positive direction on race relations
and gender equality. I am proud of the
diversity within our department. I am grateful
for the welcome I received when coming to El
Segundo and for the vast amount of support
this community shows the police department.” •
During the All-Star season, this summer
El Segundo played in 27 games and competed
in seven tournaments. They have had the opportunity
to travel throughout Southern California
for various tournaments, including locations in
Lancaster, Oxnard, and Laguna Niguel.
The team consists of Kate Summers, Chloe
Fitzgerald, Delaney McAndrews, Brooklynn
Wilson, Violet Acensio, Isabella Martinez,
Emma Navarro, Valerie Williams, Lily Dull,
Gabriella Sanchez, Avery Stein, and Charlee
Cline. ESGS Shortstop, Kate Summers, summed
up the All-Star season by saying, “Playing
with my teammates was so much fun. We
had a great time being around each other at
all these tournaments and competing against
all the great teams. We all improved so much,
and that come-back win against Torrance was
something none of us will ever forget.”
Babe Ruth Teams Start
Play In Pacific Southwest Regional
Tournaments
El Segundo will be well represented at the
Babe Ruth League Pacific Southwest Tournaments
at the 13-15 in Bakersfield, the 14s at
Price, Utah, and the 13s playing in Fallon,
Nevada, this past week. Each team started
play on Monday with hopes of continuing
earning a trip to their respective World Series.
It’ll be an arduous road for the 13-15s
that, even in a perfect world, they would
play four games in five days. If they fall
into the loser’s bracket, they may have to
play as many as six games so the pitching
staff could be stretched. Head coach Joe
Dornblaser, a pitcher on El Segundo’s 1974
Babe Ruth World Series-winning team, says
his team has the talent and pitching to be
successful. “There’s no use brooding. Each
team will be challenged with pitching, and
that’s where we should have an edge.” The
World Series is set to be played in Eagle
Pass, Texas, starting August 10.
The 14s play in one of the most competitive
Regional tournaments that include four that
have advanced to the World Series over the
years, Head coach Jeff Puffer is optimistic
about his team’s chances. His team has been
focused on practice leading up to this week’s
tournament and what it means. He says the
tournament will be a gauge on who has the
pitching to last; otherwise, there could be
some high-scoring games.
El Segundo has two outstanding starting
pitchers that could help carry the team. “Dylan
Garcia and Mateo Heredia will lead the team
on the mound,” says Puffer. He added that the
strength of the team is the depth at pitching
that will include RJ Puffer, Ethan Ayler, Owen
Reed, and Robert Cantu. Coach Puffer says
his team’s success will also lean on an offense
led RJ Puffer, Ayler, and Heredia the same as
they did during the Southern California State
tournament. El Segundo opened up against
Oahu, Hawaii, on Monday. The World Series
starts on August 12 in Ottumwa, Iowa.
The 13s traveled to Fallon, Nevada, and
are one of 10 teams vying for a championship
win that would send them to the World
Series. Head coach Arnel Celestial, who
managed the Oaks to the league title this
season, believes his team is well prepared.
“We have depth at each position, and these
boys have a high baseball IQ.”
El Segundo opened up with Yuma, Arizona,
on Monday, with the tournament ending on
Saturday. The World Series is being held in
Jamestown, New York, starting August 12. •