Seal Beach didn’t go far to find a new police chief. The latest head of the city’s police force is Michael Henderson who, until Monday, was a captain in the department.
“It is an incredible honor to appoint him as our new Chief of Police,” Jill Ingram, Seal Beach’s city manager, said in a statement.
“Chief Henderson is highly respected within the Seal Beach Police Department and has earned the trust and respect of our community, and I look forward to working closely with him as he continues to lead the men and women of the Seal Beach Police Department with compassion and commitment to our community,” Ingram said.
Henderson started his job Tuesday, Nov. 22.
He replaces outgoing Chief Phil Gonshak, who recently stepped down from his post to accept a new job as an interim manager in Summit County, Colorado.
Henderson, a 30-year law enforcement veteran, has been with the Seal Beach police department since 2006 and has worked a variety of assignments, including patrol sergeant, SWAT team member, emergency services coordinator, public information officer and homeless liaison officer.
“I am humbled to be selected as the next Chief of Police and look forward to serving and protecting the Seal Beach community in this new role,” Henderson said, thanking Ingram and others for “entrusting me with this honor.”
Henderson has a bachelor’s degree in occupational studies from Cal State Long Beach and a master’s degree in homeland security studies from the American Military University.
He leads a department of approximately 39 sworn officers.
The outgoing chief congratulated Henderson on his promotion.
“Henderson has and will continue to honor our continued success for many years to come as your next Chief of Police,” Gonshak said in a statement.
Last week, Gonshak was lauded at a City Council meeting, where the mayor read certificates of recognition and community leaders thanked him for his work in the department.
“You’ll be sorely missed, but I’m happy for you for the next chapter of your life,” Mayor Joe Kalmick said at the Nov. 14 gathering.
Gonshak joined the department in 2007 and held numerous positions until his appointment as police chief in 2019.
Ingram highlighted some of Gonshak’s accomplishments: Under his tenure, the department equipped officers with body cameras and developed a canine program. The department also created a community-oriented team to focus on the town’s only school, McGaugh Elementary, during the school year and the beach and downtown during the summer months.
He also transitioned the city’s “very expensive” local jail from a pay-to-stay program into a temporary holding facility, re-allocating those officers to other areas. Ingram praised the chief for leading the department “through extremely difficult nationwide calls for police reform” while protecting demonstrators’ right to free speech at local protests.
In a press release last month, Gonshak said: “The decision to leave my career in law enforcement is all about my family and continuing on into the field of public administration management.”
Gonshak said he was “deeply saddened to leave such a wonderful community and organization.” The move, he said, works for his family, particularly with one daughter at a university in Boulder. It also offers him an opportunity to lead in a public administration job, he said.
Gonshak was scheduled to begin his new job on Monday, Nov. 21.
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November 23, 2022 at 11:00PM
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Seal Beach picks new police chief: Michael Henderson - OCRegister
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