Police Commission reappoints LAPD Chief Michel Moore to 2nd term

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- With the support of Mayor Karen Bass, the Los Angeles Police Commission has reappointed LAPD Chief Michel Moore to a second term.

Police-chief terms typically run five years. But a letter from the mayor's office says she has had discussions with Moore indicating he will not serve the full five years. Instead a nationwide search for his replacement will start "in advance of global events like the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics."

Moore, 62, has been chief since 2018, when he was appointed by former Mayor Eric Garcetti, and has been with the LAPD for 40 years.

Moore's reappointment comes as the department faces several new controversies since the start of the new year. Those include separate incidents that led to the death of three men after encounters with LAPD officers in just the first three days of 2023.

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Bass sent a letter to the Police Commission indicating her support for Moore, but also calling for continued reforms to the department.

"This month, three Angelenos of color lost their lives after encounters with the Los Angeles Police Department - two by gunfire, one after repeated applications of a Taser. All three men showed signs of mental crisis, and all three deaths underscore the need for continued and significant reform of how the City approaches public safety," Bass wrote.

Commissioner William J. Briggs II, president of the Board of Police Commissioners, said he looked forward to continuing his work with Moore to ensure that Los Angeles remains safe from both crime and "actions that would harm our own department."

Moore did not offer a statement during the meeting after the announcement of the vote, which took place in closed session. Moore told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month that he may only serve "two or three years" in a second term to allow a new chief to handle the run-up to the 2028 Olympic Games.

Moore and the commission heard an hour of public comment regarding the reappointment request ahead of the vote. Many callers criticized Moore and urged the board to vote down the request.

WATCH: Police reform activists say 'no' to LAPD chief's reappointment

Melina Abdullah with Black Lives Matter has been calling for police reform and a change to LAPD for a long time: "It's outrageous. It is completely disrespectful to the community that has spent the last months saying that Michael Moore needs to go."

"My commitment is to keep going at this," Moore said. "To have an optimism that we can continue to see the evolution of policing, where we'll see communities that trust us at a greater level."

In his letter seeking reappointment, Moore cited a desire to address "significant departures of senior staff members" and to improve diversity in senior leadership positions. He also sought to restore "depleted staffing levels" as Los Angeles prepares to host the World Cup and Olympics in the coming years.

Moore later issued a statement that said in part:

"As the process of my reappointment has unfolded, I have listened intensely in my conversations with the Board of Police Commissioners, and more recently with Mayor Bass, on the description of the work that remains. I have heard the countless voices of encouragement as well as calls for rejecting my application. I am grateful for those who have called out my leadership and success. To my critics, I acknowledge all my efforts have not been without missteps."

City News Service contributed to this report.