Richard DePalma is Long Beach's acting police commissioner after Ronald Walsh steps down

Long Beach has appointed former commissioner Ronald Walsh's second-in-command as the city's acting police commissioner following Walsh's departure Saturday after nearly three years on the job.

Walsh, 58, who had also served as acting city manager for a year, submitted his resignation on Jan. 8, city spokesman John McNally said. His last day was Jan. 20.

A city news release said Walsh would “pursue other professional opportunities.”

City Manager Daniel Creighton on Monday appointed Insp. Richard DePalma, who has risen through the ranks of the Long Beach police force, serving as officer, sergeant, lieutenant, deputy inspector, executive officer and inspector. As acting commissioner he will continue to receive his inspector's salary of $221,785. . 

As executive officer DePalma, 48, of Lido Beach, was second-in-command after Walsh at the police department, which has 76 people. 

From 1997 until 2002, DePalma served as a police officer in the New York City Police Department in the West Village. He joined the Long Beach Police Department in 2002.

"We serve our community," DePalma said in an interview Wednesday. "We’re going to focus on community policing, we’re going to focus on making this place a great place to live, to visit and a great place to recreate at on the beach." 

One of the first challenges he faces is getting the city police body camera program fully implemented. Since December about half the officers on patrol have been outfitted with body cameras and the remainder should have them by March, DePalma said.

"They're not going to be 24/7 but pretty much when there’s a call," DePalma said of the body cameras. 

The department also is setting up its video management system and working out how to get video to courts, he said. 

Another challenge the department faces is the implementation of a new shift schedule, with officers going to 12-hour shifts from 10-hour shifts, a change that was negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement that the city council ratified on Sept. 26, he said. 

The department is also reevaluating its training programs, he added. 

Creighton, who was appointed on Jan. 2 to replace Walsh by the new Republican majority on the city council, said the city is not looking for a permanent police commissioner right now as the new administration focuses on running the city. 

"The immediate need is to have someone assigned to the post of police commissioner so we made him acting right now," Creighton said Wednesday in an interview. "We’ll stick with Rich at this point in time and we’ll reevaluate as time moves on."

Creighton said DePalma was the logical choice because of his experience and relationship with Long Beach. 

"He’s well respected by the staff, well respected by the officers, well respected by the community in general and we have the utmost faith in him."

Walsh served as Nassau County police chief of support before he was appointed Long Beach police commissioner in 2020. He was sworn in in February 2021. He had previously served with the Nassau County Police Department for 28 years, Newsday has reported. 

Walsh held dual jobs when he was appointed acting city manager in January 2023 as city officials searched for a permanent replacement for city manager after they abruptly announced Donna Gayden’s departure. After he was sworn in as police commissioner, he told Newsday his first priority was to improve community relations, implement police reforms that were being drafted and train officers to recognize implicit bias.