Long Beach's New Police Commissioner To Start Feb. 19

LONG BEACH, NY — Long Beach's new police commissioner, Ronald Walsh, has received the final approval he needs from the state to take over the city's police department, and will officially begin his new job on Friday.

Walsh, 55, is currently chief of the Office of the Chief of Support in the Nassau County Police
Department, where he is responsible for ensuring that all divisions and units within the department have the necessary infrastructure to efficiently carry out their responsibilities. He received the two-year pension system waiver from the state that he needed, and will take over as head of the Long Beach police on Feb. 19.

“Ron really has an incredibly broad and successful professional profile, which makes him eminently qualified for this job,” said City Council President John Bendo. “We are committed to the kind of progressive contemporary policing and public safety that Chief Walsh advocates for and practices. Policing today is about listening, transparency, respect for the power and pride of diversity within our community, and having law enforcement partners who are committed to serving our community through inclusion practices that build consensus. The council has high expectations of Chief Walsh and the department and we are delighted that he is ready to begin to serve our community.”

Walsh was one of two people in the running for the position. The other candidate was Philip Ragona, a 34-year member of the LBPD who was serving as acting commissioner. Walsh is replacing former commissioner Michael Tangney, who retired last year after a salary dispute with the city.

Walsh, 55, is a career employee of the NCPD, having served as a police officer, sergeant, lieutenant, detective lieutenant, captain, deputy inspector, inspector, deputy chief, assistant chief and now chief. His education, ongoing training and professional development, and broad experience in all operational and strategic phases of policing at NCPD, along with his masters degree in Public Administration made him a highly attractive candidate, the city said.

Walsh is a Locust Valley resident but has many family connections in Long Beach, where he spent much of his formative years and continues to summer here to this day. Long Beach also happens to be where Walsh began his law enforcement career, serving as an auxiliary police officer and as a 'Summer Special,' augmenting the policing effort on the boardwalk and Ocean Beach Park area.

“This is a bit of a homecoming, an incredible opportunity, and I’m honored that the city’s leaders believe in my vision for how policing must evolve in alignment with the community’s needs,” said Walsh. “I believe in progressive engagement, broad responsiveness to all concerns, and relationship building that starts with an earnest level of trust for one other. That’s where we must start, and it’s where we must stay to meet the quality-of-life goals we have as a community.”

Walsh succeeds current Interim Commissioner Phil Ragano, who came out of retirement to serve the city after Tangney's retirement. “The selflessness of Commissioner Ragano is the embodiment of what it means to serve one’s community,” said City Manager Donna Gayden. “He kept a steady hand on the wheel in our time of need and we greatly appreciate his contributions these many months.”

Walsh’s salary for this non-contractual position will be $189,500. He will receive the same benefits package as other city employees.

Walsh has a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from Mansfield University and a Masters of Public
Administration from Marist College. Special professional development experiences include two training stints at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia; Advanced Training School at
the Anti-Defamation League in Washington, D.C.; police executive training with the New York City Police Department and the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police in Boston; as well as a plethora of other specialized emergency management and policing training.

Walsh also served as an adjunct professor at Adelphi University's School of Emergency Management and Hofstra University, where he gave student safety seminars for school administrators and teachers. He was an elected Board of Education Trustee in Locust Valley for 9 years, serving for a time as the Board of Education President.