OCEANSIDE
Oceanside police Capt. Fred Armijo, a member of the department since 1994, will be the city’s 19th police chief, City Manager Deanna Lorson announced Thursday.
Armijo has been the interim police chief since his predecessor, Chief Frank McCoy, retired in December. McCoy was the longest-serving police chief in Oceanside’s 132-year history.
“I am very honored to be selected as our next chief and am very humbled by the broad range of support I have received from our community,” Armijo said in a city news release. “I want our community to know that its Police Department is comprised of some very outstanding people who recognize we are living through challenging times and that we have a lot of work ahead of us.
OCEANSIDE
Five finalists have been selected to interview for the position of Oceanside police chief and one of them could be appointed by the end of March, according to an update from City Manager Deanna Lorson.
Lorson initially considered promoting someone from within the Police Department to fill the position quickly after former Police Chief Frank McCoy announced his retirement last July.
However, representatives of minority groups in the community asked for a more widespread recruitment to find somebody who would better reflect the city’s diversity. Lorson then slowed the process, surveyed the community’s thoughts on law enforcement, and hired an outside recruiter to conduct the search.