Deputy Police Chief Kroeker Seeks Top Job

Deputy Police Chief Mark A. Kroeker, highest-ranking officer in the San Fernando Valley, announced Thursday that he will apply for the chief’s job, apparently becoming the first public candidate for the post.

With the announcement by Police Chief Daryl F. Gates that he will retire next year, many of the department’s top-ranking officers are expected to vie for his job, which involves supervising about 8,300 officers at a salary that ranges from $131,000 to $197,000 a year. Although he has yet to submit his written application, due Nov. 22 to the city Personnel Department, Kroeker said in a telephone interview Thursday that his plans were “official in my own mind, I guess.”

Kroeker said that he was motivated by “a clear idea of what I would do as chief,” including creating future police officers who would strike a balance between “gunfighter” and “social worker.”