By Susan Motander
After weeks of more than speculation, the very popular Chief of Monrovia Police Department, Jim Hunt, has announced his will retire this Nov. 2. Hunt said that he anticipated that City Manager Oliver Chi would make an announcement shortly regarding a new chief.
Hunt has served for 26 years with the Monrovia Police Department. He started in July of 1991 as a police officer. He worked several specialized assignments during his career, including: bike officer, field-training officer, detective, Special Enforcement Team Sergeant, SWAT Team Sergeant, Community Policing Sergeant, and Regional Tactical Team Commander. Chief Hunt was also a Certified Drug Recognition Expert.
He was promoted to Lieutenant in 2002 and to Captain in 2006, where he served as the Operations Division Commander and then the Services Division Commander. He was promoted to Chief of Police on May 1, 2011, and has served for 6.5 years as the Chief of Police here in Monrovia. Jim has a Master’s degree from the University of La Verne in Public Administration, is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy, and has received the California Commission on Police Officer Standards and Training Command College.
Chief Hunt has worked diligently to expand upon Monrovia’s Community Policing programs, aimed at building relationships with our community members and helping to find creative ways to solve long-time crime problems in the community. Under his leadership, Monrovia reached the lowest levels of crime in over 50 years. During his tenure as Chief, the Monrovia Police Department won the 2012 James Q. Wilson Community Policing Finalist Award from the California Police Chiefs Association for the Safe Neighborhoods program, the 2017 James Q. Wilson Community Policing Finalist Award from the California Police Chiefs Association for the Achieving Community Trust program and the 2017 Cisco Community Policing Award from the International Association of Chiefs of Police for the Achieving Community Trust program.
Prior to starting his law enforcement career Jim owned and operated a restaurant in the City of Covina. He brought his small, service oriented, business experience to his work here in Monrovia and was an instrumental part of many community policing programs aimed at creating a premier quality of life for the citizens of Monrovia.
Jim is looking forward to spending time with family, particularly his new grandson. There is a retirement celebration planned for Thursday night, Nov. 2 at the Monrovia Doubletree Hotel. For information about the celebration event please contact Lori Leveque at (626) 256-8098.
