Catching Up With Chief Tom Gazsi

A REAL SUCCESS STORY
File this one under "Local Boy Makes Good".  That's really the only way you can describe the career of Thomas E. Gazsi, Chief of the Los Angeles Port Police.

FROM NEWPORT BEACH TO COSTA MESA
As regular readers here know, Tom Gazsi - a long time resident of Costa Mesa -  had a long and illustrious career in our neighboring city , Newport Beach, before he became Police Chief of Costa Mesa.  We've written many times about the challenges he faced when he took over the department which was under siege by a couple elected leaders.

TOXIC ENVIRONMENT
The toxic atmosphere created throughout the City staff, including the CMPD, caused seasoned officers to depart in droves - retiring earlier than anticipated or leaving to other jurisdictions where their skills and experience were welcomed.  After all, most of them had been part of the CMPD when it was recognized as one of the premiere law enforcement organizations in the county.  And, Gazsi's attempt to restore the CMPD to it's former glory was hamstrung by a hiring freeze imposed by those elected leaders for nearly a year, which put the department way, way behind the curve once given permission to recruit.  Two years ago he gave City CEO Tom Hatch a detailed plan for the resurrection of the department - a plan that was not acknowledged, much less green-lighted.

AN OFFER HE COULD NOT PASS UP
Nearly eighteen months ago Gazsi was approached about a position as Deputy Chief at the Los Angeles Port Police and, despite his affection for the men and women of the CMPD and the plans he had offered to his boss to bring the department back to the "glory days", the opportunity was just too great to pass up, so he retired from the CMPD and accepted that position - a brand new position in the Los Angeles Port Police hierarchy.

NAMED CHIEF IN NOVEMBER
After less than six months on the job the Police Chief, Ronald Boyd, found himself with some legal complications so he stepped aside and Gazsi was appointed Acting Chief in April of 2015.  During the fall Boyd retired and Gazsi was appointed Chief of the Los Angeles Port Police in November, 2015 - less than a year after he left Costa Mesa.

READ THIS PROFILE
To give you some perspective on the scope of Chief Gazsi's job with the Los Angeles Port Police, please click HERE to read a profile on him in the current issue of Seapower Magazine.  This certainly seems to be a perfect way to round out an exemplary career in law enforcement.

Gazsi Named Acting Chief Of LA Port Police

LA PORT POLICE CHIEF INDICTED ON CORRUPTION
Yesterday Los Angeles Port Police Chief Ronald Boyd was indicted on federal corruption charges.  Read the Los Angeles Times article HERE.

GAZSI APPOINTED ACTING CHIEF
Not mentioned anywhere in any of the news accounts so far is the fact that Costa Mesa resident and former Costa Mesa Police Chief Tom Gazsi, who has been Deputy Chief of the Los Angeles Port Police for the past 6 months, was immediately named as Acting Chief.

THE PERFECT MAN FOR THE JOB
Although one never knows how an indictment such as the one imposed on Boyd will turn out, the leadership vacuum it creates can be debilitating to an organization.  In this situation, and although he has short tenure with the Los Angeles Port Police, Gazsi is the perfect man for this job.  A man of deep faith and outstanding leadership skills, Gazsi brings more than three decades of law enforcement leadership - including three years as Chief of the Costa Mesa Police Department -  and unimpeachable character to this assignment.  We wish him luck as he takes the helm of the organization charged with protecting "America's Port" - which handles 40% of the commerce into and out of this country.