CLEARLAKE – A law enforcement veteran who most recently served as sheriff of Kings County has been chosen to lead the Clearlake Police Department.
In a unanimous closed-session vote on Friday, the Clearlake City Council chose Allan McClain as the city's new police chief.
McClain, 48, has more than 26 years in law enforcement, including two and a half years as the sheriff of Kings County.
Interim Police Chief Larry Todd said Friday afternoon the council voted 5-0 to confirm McClain's selection, which both Todd and City Administrator Dale Neiman recommended.
“The entire City Council is thrilled to have a person of Allan's experience as Clearlake's next chief of police,” Mayor Judy Thein said in a statement. “He is committed to developing a strong police/community partnership and we know that he will provide strong leadership to the men and women in our police department.”
McClain was one of 28 people who applied for the job, which the recruitment firm Avery & Associates conducted on the city's behalf, Todd reported.
Todd said he and McClain hadn't met before becoming introduced through the interview process, but McClain's candidacy has Todd's firm support.
“I think he'll do an outstanding job for the community,” Todd said.
Of McClain, Neiman said in a statement, “I am pleased with everything I have seen from him during this selection process,” adding that he believe police staff and the community will be equally impressed with McClain's “commitment to quality customer service.”
McClain joined the Kings County Sheriff's Office in 1983, according to a statement from the City of Clearlake. He has a bachelor's degree in management and organizational development from Fresno Pacific University and an associate's degree in criminology from the College of the Sequoias.
He was appointed acting sheriff, coroner and public administrator of Kings County by its Board of Supervisors after the retirement of three-term Sheriff Ken Marvin in 2004, Kings County Chief Administrative Officer Larry Spikes said Friday.
Marvin said in a Friday interview that McClain worked his way up through the department's ranks. In 2002, Marvin said he promoted McClain – then a sergeant – to the assistant sheriff position, which he filled until Marvin's retirement.
Last November, McClain lost the sheriff's race to Chris Jordan, a commander with the Hanford Police Department, said Spikes. McClain left office Jan. 8.
Both Spikes and Marvin praised McClain for his professionalism, intelligence and sincerity.
Marvin, who said he had just spoken with McClain to congratulate him on his new position, called his former second-in-command “an extremely brilliant guy,” who is both a good administrator and a good leader.
Kings County, located in the southern Central Valley, has a population of about 141,000 people, according to the county's official Web site.
While McClain helped oversee operations for the whole county, Marvin said he had particular responsibility for the city of Avenal, which contracts with the sheriff's department for law enforcement services. That community's population is 16,214, according to Kings County statistics, which makes it close in size to Clearlake.
Marvin said McClain believes in “community policing,” which emphasizes police interaction with the community.
That was important in Kings County, which is mostly a rural area with many small, unincorporated cities, sit Marvin. It's also a topic McClain taught classes on at College of the Sequoias Police Academy, according to the City of Clearlake's statement on the hire.
McClain also believes strongly in treating his people right, said Marvin, adding McClain “will never, ever do anything but the right thing” for his staff.
Todd said McClain will start work June 18, and is now in the process of preparing to move his family from the Hanford area, where one of his children also is graduating from high school.
Once McClain is settled, Todd said he's looking forward to going back to retirement at the end of June.
As for whether he plans to take more interim posts in the future, Todd said he hasn't actively pursued work since his 2001 retirement, although it seems to have pursued him, with Clearlake being the third such post he's filled in that time.
He credited the Clearlake Police Department staff with a lot of hard work as the department has transitioned to new leadership since the start of this year. He said he just offered them “leadership and guidance.”
Todd said Clearlake Police has a fine staff. “I'm proud of them,” he said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
{mos_sb_discuss:2}
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
