The new interim chief of the Seal Beach Police Department started work this week. Keith L. Kilmer was officially welcomed to Seal Beach in a Friday, July 5, press release from City Manager Jill Ingram. The announcement was issued 10 days after the City Council approved his contract.
As the Sun reported in mid-June, the City Council approved an agreement to hire Kilmer as interim chief at the agency’s June 25 meeting.
Kilmer replaced Robert Luman as interim chief because, under CalPERS rules, Luman could no longer serve Seal Beach and keep his pension. Luman’s term officially ended on June 30. Luman was officially in charge of the SBPD when the Salon Meritage shootings took place.
However, Luman was not in town that day. The department’s second-in-command, Capt. Tim Olson, was actually running the department the day of the multiple murders.
Luman replaced Jeff Kirkpatrick as the head of the Police Department roughly a year ago. Kirkpatrick’s retirement party was held in on June 16, 2011.
The Seal Beach press release said the city was now “fully prepared” to hire a consulting firm to select a permanent chief of police.
According to Ingram, Kilmer began his law enforcement career with the Army in 1977, where he was a canine officer with the Military Police. He joined the Long Beach Police Department in 1982, where he served for 25 years. Kilmer eventually rose to the rank of commander. He was then appointed police chief of Bell Gardens in 2006.
When City Manager Ingram announced his selection as the new interim chief at a City Council meeting last month, she made a point of emphasizing that he was police chief of Bell Gardens, not the city of Bell.
Kilmer was appointed chief of the San Bernardino Police Department in 2009. He retired in October 2011. That was not, however, the end of his law enforcement career.
He has worked as a private consultant, performing administrative investigations for public agencies.
Kilmer has a community college teaching credential.
He holds a juris doctor from Western State University College of Law and a bachelor of science degree from Western State University.
He has graduated from the FBI National Academy and from the California State Commission Police Officer Standards and Training program’s executive management course.
Kilmer is a member of the California Police Chiefs Association. “I feel very fortunate to be asked to lead such a fine department as the Seal Beach Police Department during this interim period,” Kilmer said. “I look forward to working with the City Council, city manager, other departments, the community and the men and women of the Seal Beach Police Department to continue to ensure the current high levels of public safety and quality of life.”
