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Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Last modified Wednesday, July 12, 2006 8:10 PM

New Escondido police chief sworn in

By: JO MORELAND - Staff Writer

ESCONDIDO ---- Within minutes of receiving his badge as Escondido's new police chief in a warm, applause-filled ceremony at City Hall, Jim Maher outlined issues facing the big, blue-collar city.

The biggest one, Maher told reporters in an impromptu interview in the courtyard, is immigration.

"We have a large percentage of our population that is undocumented immigrants," said the city's new top cop.

Maher, 50, said police will be there to follow the law, but he doesn't want to divide the community.

During the first day of a week of student demonstrations in March against proposed federal legislation cracking down on illegal immigration, Escondido police made 24 arrests for everything from truancy to assault.

"My concern is that this immigration issue certainly has the ability to polarize the community, and I want to keep the community connected," Maher said.

The 26-year department veteran, who has served as a public information officer, detective lieutenant and captain, among other duties, during his time with the department, said police have been working with some success on two other issues, including the availability of alcohol to minors.

"We've done a great job of keeping our gangs under control to some extent," and want to continue that, Maher added.

The comments were a relatively frank plunge into the serious side of law enforcement for his first day on the job, especially after Maher's informal official appointment at the start of the Escondido City Council's afternoon session.

Family, friends, city police both on and off-duty, and officers from other agencies helped fill the council chambers before the police honor guard marked the beginning of official proceedings.

"Knowing the chief and his proactiveness in the community, and his working with other agencies, it's important for us to be a part of it," said state parole agent Arthur Lopez. "He's popular, in the sense that he works with everybody."

One of Maher's three proud children, Jacob Maher, 21, a loan officer who lives in the Temecula Valley, described his father to a reporter as a "good guy."

"He's very smart. He's always been there for me," the chief's son said.

With newly retired Chief Duane White and former Escondido police chiefs Michael P. Stein and James Connole also in the audience, Maher cheerfully accepted his certificate of appointment, holding it over his head.

His wife, Eva, carefully pinned on the badge and the couple hugged to more applause that included clapping from their two young grandchildren.

Maher told the crowd of more than 100 that he was honored and proud to be the new chief, and praised the department's accomplishments and morale under Chief White.

With an approved budget of $36,588,340 and a salary of $150,000 for the current year, Maher will lead 167 police officers and 67 other employees through major projects that include building a police and fire headquarters as part of an $84.3 million bond issue passed in 2004.

However, Maher said he wants to concentrate now on learning the job and relieving the anxiety that is natural in any major department change. By fall, the chief said, he may have some idea of what he wants to do and how to do it best.

"I think that my job as chief, first and foremost, is to set direction for the department ---- where we're going, how fast we want to get there," and listening to the community while doing that, Maher said.

Contact staff writer Jo Moreland at (760) 740-3524 or jmoreland@nctimes.com.