Acting police chief feels at home

Joe Chronister vividly recalls the days he was a young North Las Vegas police officer cutting his teeth in the heart of a notorious gang-infested area.

In the early 1990s, Chronister was one of six officers who worked at a newly opened command post on Donna Street. He patrolled the streets run by the Donna Street Crips, one of the oldest and most violent gangs in the valley. Shootings and drugs demoralized the neighborhood.

But the experience didn’t sour Chronister. Instead, it helped him develop lifelong relationships.

“It helped me understand the plight of young people at that time,” Chronister said earlier this month. “I met some young men over there that to this day, if I were to see them on the street, we’d talk to each other.”

Chronister, now 47, has risen through the ranks during his 21 years with the North Las Vegas department. Earlier this month he was appointed acting police chief. His primary challenge now is not arresting gang members, but managing the department of more than 300 officers in a cash-strapped city.

Chronister is taking over for former Police Chief Joseph Forti, who was one of 10 high-ranking officials in the city who took buyouts to save the city $2.4 million.

Forti accepted a buyout package of $215,572 and left his post on June 3. His annual salary, excluding benefits, was $169,844. He had been with the department 30 years and had been police chief since March 2008.

Forti said he was considering retiring from the department in early 2011 before accepting the buyout. The 55-year-old said he is looking forward to finding new work, but he wouldn’t tip his hand as to what specifically he was considering.

The city is saving money because it won’t be filling Chronister’s former position of assistant police chief.

Chronister now makes $166,954 and has not been given a raise for his new role as acting police chief, he said.

Forti said Chronister was the obvious choice to take over for him.

“He definitely has the knowledge, the skills and the heart to be the police chief in the department and to take it and carry it forward,” Forti said.

Chronister made it clear his primary concern was the city’s budget woes and how that will affect the department.

After many cuts, the city still faces a $10 million budget deficit for 2010-11. The latest projections for 2011-12, show an estimated budget shortfall of $41.8 million. The city has cut 188 positions, but managed to avoid any layoffs in the police department.

The grim financial numbers still translate to unfilled police positions. The city has frozen 156 positions, including 91 officers, in the police department. Those vacant positions translate to about $15 million in salaries and benefits.

Chronister said the vacancies have not jeopardized the community’s safety. The department has no plans for major overhauls to cope with the unfilled positions.

Sgt. Tim Bedwell said because of the city’s budget problems, the department is staffed with officers near levels in 2000, when the population was about 100,000 less. He said the agency is coping even though the public has a desire for more officers.

“We are managing to keep service at a minimum level,” Bedwell said. “Across the board there would be more officers patrolling the street. But you get the safety you pay for.”

Chronister said more cuts and less money funneled to his department eventually could take its toll on the city’s safety. “That’s the realistic side of what we do,” he said.

In general, crime decreased in the city of 215,000 people last year. Overall crime was down 9 percent in 2009 compared with 2008, according to the department’s statistics. Property crime decreased 12 percent while violent crime increased 3 percent during that time.

Mayor Shari Buck said the department has stopped recruiting officers. But the council approved the “future recruitment” of a new chief to be paid between $158,790 and $233,648 a year in salary and benefits.

Buck and Councilman Richard Cherchio said Chronister is a strong candidate to take over the job full time and, if he is not chosen, the department has other qualified personnel.

Both council members said they are opposed to a national search.

Buck said she would like to see the acting tag on the police chief for 18 months, so that the city can see dividends in savings. But Cherchio disagrees, saying the position is high-profile and too important to make do for that long. He also says there would be no additional savings, because there are no plans to fill Chronister’s former position.

Cherchio said it’s important to name a permanent police chief for several reasons.

“When you’re acting versus permanent, it carries a different weight,” Cherchio said. “The rank and file would like to have a permanent police chief they can rally behind and support.”

Chronister said he is not concerned about being named chief permanently. He committed to staying with the department even if someone else is tapped for the role he now holds.

“My passion is this organization and the men and women who work here.”

Contact reporter Antonio Planas at aplanas@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4638.