L.B. police commissioner retiring after 42 years with the force

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Long Beach Police Commissioner Michael Tangney, known as "a cop's cop" and a no nonsense manager, has told city officials he plans to retire at the end of next month, ending a 42-year career.

John McNally, executive assistant to Long Beach City Manager Donna Gayden, said Tangney informed the city earlier this week of his intentions to step down as head of the 69-member force.  McNally said the city council will appoint a temporary commissioner while the city searches for a permanent replacement.

Tangney did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Tangney has had a long history with the City of Long Beach. He was once both police commissioner and acting city manager. He assumed that post in 2017, when then city manager Jack Schnirman was elected Nassau County Comptroller.  

At the time, Tangney said he was not seeking to be full-time city manager. "I'm just minding the store," he said in an interview. In January 2019, the city named Long Beach corporation counsel Rob Agostisi acting city manager, and Tangney went back to full-time duty as police commissioner. Gayden is the current city mnager, appointed in February.

Tangney rose rapidly in the city's police department, becoming a lieutenant before being named commissioner. In his years as head of the force, Tangney was credited with reducing crime, running a tight financial ship, securing funds for surveillance cameras and police training, and seeing to it that his officers were adept at the use of Narcan to treat opiod overdose patients.

His pay — said to be over $300,000 in 2015 — raised concerns. But it included a base of $213, 0000 retroactive pay, vaction and other compensation.

In 2018, he was sued by a motorist who said Tangeny had punched him in the face during a traffic stop, a charge the commissioner denied. The Nassau County District Attorney's office investigated and brought no charges against Tangney.

James Mulvaney, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and now a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, served on a panel that recommended Tangney to be police commissioner.

"He's a dedicated Long Beach guy who cares about his job," said Mulvaney.

Tangney could be innovative. 

Long-time city residents recall the time when Tangney persuaded the Long Beach Fire Department to loan the police bucket towers used by firefighters to reach great heights. Tangney, the residents said, posted police officers in the buckets that stood over city streets, to clock the speed of motorists. "It mostly cut down on speeders," one resident said.

Another time, people recall, a man was holding a propane tank in his hand and was threatening to blow up an entire block. Tangney, they said, simply walked up to the man and subdued him.

Tangney's wife, Darlene, is politically powerful in Long Beach. She is the leader of the Long Beach Independent Democratic Party. In 2017, Democrats swept races for city council, including a major victory by Independent candidate John Bendo, who is now city council president. Darlene Tangnery said her party helped elect Laura Curran as Nassau County eecutive and Schnirman as county comptroller.