Murrieta Police Chief Retiring, Hired by Ventura County DA

Murrieta’s police chief Mike Baray is leaving his post, paving the way for a promotion from within.

Baray, 52, confirmed Tuesday during a sit-down interview with Patch that he is retiring with a law enforcement pension under the California Public Employees' Retirement System. However, his is a semi-retirement situation because he has been selected as the new chief district attorney investigator for Ventura County District Attorney Gregory D. Totten.

Baray described it as his dream job, saying working for a DA’s office has been something he began thinking about as a young detective for the Long Beach Police Department.

“That has actually been my post-retirement plan for several years,” Baray said. “When I was offered the chief job here I mentioned that in two to three years I would be retiring. The plan was to transition us.”

He believes he and Murrieta police captains, Dennis Vrooman and Sean Hadden, have accomplished that.

“I’m comfortable with what I’m leaving,” said Baray, who was appointed in April 2011 when former Chief Mark Wright retired.

“In the two years plus as a team—and I really say as a team— we’ve really worked together and gotten a lot accomplished.”

This includes a five-year strategic plan and a two-year budget—both in place, he said.

Baray said there are also several rank-in-file promotions set to take effect upon his retirement.

“All those have been selected; there is not going to be any downtime,” Baray said.

And although he and his wife are excited about the move to coastal Ventura County as well as his post-retirement position overseeing a team of 45 DA investigators, he said he will miss coming to work every day at the Murrieta Police Department.

Of Baray’s 31 years in law enforcement, 21 of those have been spent in Murrieta. He was the department’s first detective when it formed in 1992 and the first chief to be promoted from within.

“I love the people here, they are absolutely like my family,” Baray said. “I worry about them every night and I still will so it is kind of bittersweet.”

Baray earned a salary of $198,000 as Murrieta’s police chief, and said his new position is not necessarily a pay raise—just somewhere he is happy to be heading at this juncture in his life.

“Concurrently, I have 31 years in law enforcement, so yeah, I can retire,” he said.

According to Baray, his replacement will come from within. He said city management and City Council were in support of that, and the interview process has already begun.

“As smoothly as our PD has been going—morale is up and the crime rate is down—they have agreed it is going to be a closed promotional process, most likely between your two most qualified, your two captains, although if a lieutenant feels they are qualified they can certainly get their name in there,” Baray said.

Once his successor is determined and announced, Baray said that person will mirror him in his chief duties for two weeks to a month.

A badge-pinning ceremony for the new chief and related promotions is tentatively planned for Baray’s last day, Sept. 3, when he will also remove his chief badge.

“If I did my job right, there shouldn’t be any change when I leave,” Baray said. “It should be a seamless transition.”