SAN CLEMENTE : Official to Rejoin City Police--as Chief

Assistant City Manager Mike Sorg has been chosen to take over as chief of the city’s troubled 49-officer police department, city officials announced Thursday.

Sorg, 48, will replace current chief Albert C. Ehlow, who announced his retirement in October after 30 years with the department, the last five as chief.

Sorg will begin his new position July 6.

City Manager Michael W. Parness on Thursday rebutted rumors that Ehlow had been forced to retire after an outside audit of the department.

It criticized slow responses to emergencies, training for officers and the organization of the detective bureau.

In addition, former officer David Wayne Bryan was convicted in December of raping a former colleague on the force and sexual battery on another woman he met while on duty.

The department has also been criticized for failing to find a serial rapist who has stalked city women for a year.

Sorg, who was a lieutenant in the department for five years in the 1980s, said he is aware of the department’s controversies but said he is taking on the job “with no preconceived notions.”

“I’m feeling pretty upbeat about it,” Sorg said. “I think we have some terrific people down there, and we’re just going to get on with business. It would be unfair of me to have been standing off to one side and reach conclusions. I’ve got to get a better feel for what’s going on.”

Sorg said that the police chief’s job is especially challenging now, because the city is growing while its finances are shrinking and that the types of crimes being committed are more serious.

“When you look at the bottom line, crime really hasn’t increased, but the types of crimes have changed,” Sorg said. “We’ve had a few more felonies and a few less misdemeanors. It makes you think about how you’re going to assemble and deal with that.”

Sorg admitted that his path to the post has been “a bit unusual.”

In 1985, he switched from being a police lieutenant to interim public services director and ended up being hired outright for that position. In 1990, he was named assistant city manager.

Sorg said he volunteered to be transferred back to the Police Department when the City Council decided to eliminate one of two assistant city manager positions during recent budget talks.

City Manager Parness said the city was about to screen 10 finalists for the police chief position when the idea of transferring Sorg “fit like the pieces of a puzzle” and allowed the city to avoid laying off their other assistant city manager, Paul Gudgeirsson, who was hired last year and has less seniority than Sorg.

“It was kind of an ideal situation,” Parness said. “His 20 years of police experience and his experience in the city manager’s office puts him in a terrific situation to take over the department. It’s good for the department and good for the city.”

Sorg spent five years with the Downey police and 10 years with the Huntington Beach police before coming to the San Clemente force.