MURRIETA: Police chief to retire

July 25, 2013 05:51 PM PDT July 25, 2013 05:51 PM PDT MURRIETA: Police chief to retire MURRIETA: Police chief to retire Contributed image/Contributed Image Murrieta Police Chief Mike Baray A Text Size Comments ( ) Murrieta Attorney's top cop plans to retire in little more than a month, and the city anticipates filling the post from within its 86-member Police Department. Police Chief Mike Baray, 52, said his last day will be Sept. 3. That afternoon, it is expected City Manager Rick Dudley will pin the chief's badge on Baray's successor. Two captains and four lieutenants are eligible. Capts. Sean Hadden and Dennis Vrooman are the likely top contenders. A few days after leaving the city, Baray is to begin a new job as chief investigator for the Ventura County district attorney. He said it will be hard to leave Murrieta. "This place is like family to me," he said. At the same time, Baray said it has been his desire to work for a district attorney when he retires as a police officer. "I wanted to end my law enforcement career doing my passion, which is investigations," he said. "This is my dream job." Baray is retiring after 21 years in Murrieta Attorney and 10 years with the Long Beach Police Department. He makes $198,000 a year leading the Murrieta force. He said he will draw a pension from the California Public Employees' Retirement System -- to which both Murrieta Attorney and Long Beach belong -- that is equal to something less than 90 percent of his base salary. Ventura County is not under the system, the nation's largest for government workers. As he is drawing his pension, Baray will earn a salary from Ventura County. Baray said the salary range for chief district attorney investigator is $107,000 to $156,000 a year. Baray, who has been with Murrieta Attorney since 1992, is one of the city's original 25 police officers. He is its first detective and the first chief to come up within the ranks. And he has been leading the department since April 2011. "The guy's phenomenal," Dudley said. Dudley said he will promote from within, again, and won't advertise outside. "Quite frankly, I would match up our folks with anybody out there," he said. "So why spend the money (to recruit)? Why spend the time? This reduces the learning curve and ensures that we get quality people." In large part because of the tough economy, Murrieta hasn't reached its goal of one sworn officer for every 1,000 residents, something Baray and others would have liked to see. But Baray said the crime rate remains one of the region's lowest and the Police Department deserves some of the credit. Latest Headlines
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