Outsider is expected for top cop

Newport Beach City Manager Homer Bludau will announce the city’s new interim police chief today.

Police Chief John Klein announced last month that he would retire Friday after months of complaints from top union leaders about the way the department promotes officers, including Klein. Some argued Klein unfairly leapfrogged more qualified candidates for top cop when he was hired in June 2007 because of a good-old-boy network in City Hall.

Bludau has said he thought Klein’s ascension would improve morale because he was promoted from within the ranks. Klein’s promotion was improper because the recruitment for the top post was limited to city employees, a process that violated city law requiring the consideration of outside candidates, the city attorney has said.

Bludau did not say Wednesday who would be the interim chief, but he is poised to select someone from outside the department, officials said after Klein announced his retirement. The interim chief will serve a few months while Bludau and whoever replaces him in September search for a new chief. Bludau will retire in September.

An independent investigator, meanwhile, is evaluating how the city promotes officers and will recommend reforms.