‘I’ve done all I can’

COSTA MESA ? After more than three decades in law enforcement, Police Chief John Hensley said Thursday it’s the right time for him to retire, for several reasons ? and none is the city’s immigration plan.

“I know everybody wants me to say it’s about immigration. It’s not about immigration,” Hensley said.

Sitting at a table in his office and looking slightly frayed around the edges, Hensley discussed his decision while his staff fielded media calls and two TV trucks waited in the parking lot.

The city on Wednesday announced that Hensley, 50, will retire June 30, after three years with the department. It’s been widely speculated that he’s leaving because of a plan the City Council approved in December to train police for immigration enforcement. The plan would make Costa Mesa the first city in the U.S. to perform such enforcement, and it has led to demonstrations ? for and against ? and national media attention.

The plan has caused Hensley some grief, such as being called Hitler at council meetings, but he said it’s not his reason for leaving.

His first answer to why he plans to retire is a common one: to spend more time with his family. But he also has come to a point when he believes he can’t do any more to move the department forward, he said.

“At this point, I think I’ve done all I can do in the organization. I’ve moved it as far as I can,” Hensley said. “I believe in my heart it’s time to bring in another police chief, and he or she can pick up the reins and be able to move forward again.”

Hensley wanted to join the police since Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies came to his elementary school classroom. He served in the U.S. Army Military Police for nine years, with assignments in Germany and Korea. His civilian law enforcement work was in Manhattan Beach, Barstow and Cypress, where he was the chief for five years before he was hired by Costa Mesa in 2003.

As Hensley describes it, when he came to Costa Mesa, he began making ambitious changes aimed at professionalizing the Police Department.

He required detectives to dress in business attire, and he cracked down on overtime costs. He also made sure officers answered complaints about vending trucks, littering and other mundane-sounding problems.

Getting officers to be more responsive to “quality of life issues” and to be courteous to residents aren’t the sexy side of police work, but Hensley said those things matter to people in Costa Mesa.

“I could have ignored people calling about barking dogs or neighbors draining their swimming pools into the street, but on Saturday and Sunday, we’re the only people they can call,” he said.

The community apparently was pleased ? Hensley said complaints about the department dropped from 20 or more a year to three after his first year.

But Hensley’s changes weren’t always popular inside the department, and the result was a gulf between the chief and some of his employees that grew wider over time.

He said he tried to create open lines of communication and build consensus on decisions, but that didn’t always work.

Hensley said he heard rumors that the city police association recently took a vote of no confidence in him, but he and City Manager Allan Roeder said they know of no such vote. Costa Mesa Police Officers Assn. president Chris Walk has declined to comment on Hensley’s retirement.

Some employees don’t agree with the way Hensley has managed the department, he said, but that doesn’t mean he should have changed his direction.

“I don’t think it would have been the right thing to do because it’s more important to serve than to be popular,” Hensley said.

“The direction of this Police Department comes from the City Council in terms of what they expect ? because that’s who we work for.”

As he prepares to retire, Hensley said he’s proud of the progress officers have made with community policing and addressing residents’ concerns, even when they seem small.

A few things in the city need more work, he said, including gang problems and auto thefts.

The immigration plan did cause him some frustrations, and he did say ? before the council began discussing its plan ? that local law enforcement shouldn’t be involved in immigration enforcement. But Hensley doesn’t think the plan will be an obstacle to the city finding a new chief.

“There’s sufficient people out there that want to be police chief for this city or any other city,” Hensley said. “In some ways it’ll be easier because people coming in will know what they have to deal with. If someone’s not interested in dealing with the immigration issue, which is a reality of the workday, they probably should pass on the job.”

Now that his decision has been made, Hensley said, “I’m sleeping better.”

But it’s bittersweet. He’s leaving behind some of the turmoil within the Police Department and the larger community, but he’ll still miss the work.

“I’ve never not been a cop in my whole adult life,” he said.dpt.07-chief-CPhotoInfoFH1PNB8B20060407ixbqofncKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Costa Mesa Police Chief John Hensley said the city’s plan have police enforce immigration law didn’t sway him to retire.