At 77, this Pomona cop is hanging up his gunbelt
Pomona CA November 20 2018
Ron McDonald, the Pomona cop who’s been on the job longer than most of his colleagues have been alive, is turning in his badge.
McDonald marked 50 years in 2015 and showed no signs of slowing down. But he recently decided life is too short to keep working. His last day is Nov. 30, although he’s been at home since August.
He came in as a rookie officer with the Pomona Police Department at age 24 and goes out as a lieutenant at age 77.
Why leave now? I thought he was just getting started.
“It’s time,” McDonald told me. “It’s a hard question for me to answer. It’s just time.”
He added: “It’s 53 years. I probably pushed it too far.”
McDonald’s family came to Pomona in 1958 from Tujunga. He attended Mount San Antonio College, worked at a printshop and then was hired by West Covina as a dispatcher and reserve officer. Deciding he liked the work, he applied with Pomona, getting hired on his second attempt.
His first day was Sept. 1, 1965. Lyndon Johnson was president and the No. 1 song was the Beatles’ “Help!”
Not only has McDonald stayed with the same department, but he’s clocked in at the same station. Pomona’s Welton Becket-designed headquarters — he was also architect for the LAPD’s Parker Center — went into service in 1964.
McDonald’s first assignment was foot patrol on the downtown pedestrian mall, then only three years old and lined with businesses like Thrifty, Buffums’, Woolworth’s and Home Savings Bank.
Over his half-century plus, he’s had nearly every assignment in the department: patrol, major narcotics, detective bureau, helicopter observer and special operations.
In recent years he’s had a desk job as a watch commander, on duty from 5 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., seven days of every 14, directing officers in the field.
In 2015, when I sat down with the matter-of-fact McDonald, he’d worked under 15 chiefs. The chief then was Paul Capraro, who has since retired and been replaced by Mike Olivieri.
Make that 16 chiefs.
Richard Tefank worked alongside McDonald from 1972 to 1989, the final three years as chief. They’ve remained friends.
“He’s finishing 53 years, which is over the top,” Tefank told me, adding that McDonald’s pension will be no greater than if he had retired after 30 years.
Summarizing McDonald’s service, Tefank, now executive director of the Los Angeles Police Commission, said: “Just a tremendous dedication to the department and the city.”
After his wife died in 1997, McDonald’s plans to retire no longer made sense to him. His health was fine and he decided to keep working. He told me in 2015 that he would retire if he had three bad days in a row.
“It’s not health, it’s not three bad days,” McDonald said Tuesday. “It’s just time.”
“He made the decision to do it, to call it, which was a surprise to everyone,” Olivieri told me.
“I’m excited for his family’s sake that they’ll get to see him more,” the chief added, referring to McDonald’s grown children. “After serving for 53 years, he deserves a nice retirement to enjoy his family.”
McDonald was offered the traditional walk of honor ceremony for department retirees but declined. “I’ve never liked it,” he said.
I can see why co-workers consider him ornery. But he is consenting to a private luncheon later this month, to be attended mostly by department retirees. Imagine being known by five decades of retirees.
“Things from 30, 40 years ago will come back, maybe embellished,” Tefank predicted of the luncheon talk. “I’m honored that Ron chose me to emcee the event.”
McDonald will get a Goddess statuette, the city’s highest honor, as well as a retirement badge and certificates from legislators.
