BURBANK'S NEW TOP COP FOLLOWS DREAM CRIME DOWN, BUT MAN SET TO LEAD DEPARTMENT SEES OPPORTUNITIES.

Byline: EUGENE TONG 

Staff Writer

BURBANK -- Tim Stehr joined the Burbank Police Department as a wide-eyed, 19-year-old cadet in 1979, motivated by images of the old TV police show "Adam-12" and the goal of making detective.

"Actually, my mom didn't want me to go because she thought I was going to the big city," said Stehr, who grew up in Monrovia and was briefly a cadet at the Police Department there before transferring to Burbank.

"I followed my dream, and I was so pleased that I could be a cadet. ... The career didn't let me down."

After a 28-year law enforcement career here that included stints on the streets investigating narcotics and the brutal slaying of a fellow officer, Stehr -- now deputy chief -- is about to take on the department's top job. He will replace Chief Tom Hoefel on Aug. 1 at the helm of the 163-officer department.

"It's a great responsibility. It's one I don't take lightly," he said.

Stehr, 48, was tapped for the job in May when he emerged as the top candidate in a national search for Hoefel's replacement. But he already was being groomed for the post since his promotion to the department's No. 2 job just over a year ago overseeing day-to-day operations, Burbank City Manager Mary Alvord said.

"He's got tenacity," she said. "I would describe him as an A-type personality -- he's very much a guy who would want to see something completed from start to finish. That's why he is so highly regarded by the staff."

Among Stehr's career highlights, he led the manhunt for alleged Vineland Boys gang member David Garcia, who is charged with killing Burbank Police Officer Matthew Pavelka in a November 2003 shootout.

"It was an unbelievably hectic, sorrowful time," he said. "It was a very difficult time for the entire organization. ... I would never forget that."

As chief, Stehr will inherit a city where crime has trended down for more than a decade. According to FBI statistics, overall crime in the city decreased 1.5 percent in 2006 compared to the year before -- a drop for the third straight year.

"I'm not inheriting a department that needs fixing, that has gone in the wrong direction," Stehr said. "I'd like to bring some new ideas, of course."

Among them, he intends to use the department's new computer system to bolster crime analysis and improve communication between departments so they can share information and quickly identify emerging crime trends.

Also on his list are improving traffic flow and expanding the cadet program to nurture future officers -- the same program that produced Stehr.

Ryan Schurke, 19, a Burbank police cadet, was clearly impressed with Stehr's rise to leadership.

"It shows how a good start with a cadet position, how far it can take you," he said. "It shows how much people can accomplish with their work."

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

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Incoming Burbank Police Chief Tim Stehr, who joined the department as a cadet 28 years ago, will replace the retiring Chief Tom Hoefel in August.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer