Updated: Police Chief to Leave Department

Update (Tuesday, Jan. 10, 11:48 p.m.): Police Chief Greg Savelli announced in a Hermosa Beach City Council meeting Tuesday night that he will permanently head the Los Angeles Department of Transportation's parking enforcement division in his new job for the City of Los Angeles. He begins Jan. 17.

--

Updated at 8:44 p.m. with confirmation and additional comments from Chief Savelli.

After more than five years with the department, Hermosa Beach Police Chief Greg Savelli will leave his post this month for another unspecified job.

Savelli confirmed the news Tuesday through an e-mail to Patch and a separate e-mail to the Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Watch earlier in the day.

In the latter, Savelli announced that he is stepping down from his position Jan. 13 and has accepted a "new challenging opportunity."

Savelli said that he wasn't allowed to comment further on his new position because he is waiting for a public announcement from his new employer.

"I have very much enjoyed my time in Hermosa Beach," Savelli told Patch. "The City Manager, City Council and the community have been very supportive of all my efforts to enhance the Police Department."

In his Neighborhood Watch e-mail, Savelli expressed his confidence in the Hermosa Beach Police Department, adding that he will remain a resident of Hermosa.

"I am confident that the Police Department is on solid footing and believe the transition will go smoothly," Savelli said in the e-mail.  

In the same e-mail, Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Watch co-founder Kelly Kovac-Reedy expressed her approval of Savelli's tenure as police chief.

"Hermosa Beach was graced by his leadership, his fair and common sense approach to Community Policing and his sense of humor," she said. "Not too often do you meet a person that completely changes your life for the better."