UPDATE 2:45pm | Just hours after learning that he has been selected as the new Chief of the Newport Beach Police Department, former Long Beach Police Commander Jay Johnson found time to speak with the staging-live.lbpost.com.

Johnson said he is excited and honored to accept his new position and reflected on his long career in Long Beach.

“I’ll always have a connection to Long Beach. Long Beach has afforded me and my family some tremendous opportunities,” Johnson said. “That’s what made me a candidate for this Newport Beach job and I’ll always be grateful for that.”

The third Long Beach command staffer to accept a job as Chief of another city in just the past month, Johnson offered his perspective on why the force is losing high-ranking officers.

“I know of thirteen cities that have chosen Long Beach command staff to be chiefs,” Johnson said. “That says a lot about Long Beach.”

Johnson said he was proud to work with Long Beach Chief Jim McDonnell, who was selected as the new chief in February over Johnson and three other candidates.

“He’s not only a good Chief, but a great man. I would have been happy working in Long Beach with Chief McDonnell for the rest of my life, but this just happened to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and I couldn’t pass it up,” he said. “I’m pretty excited [about the Newport Beach job] and just very honored to be a part of the department.”

11:45am | The Press-Telegram is reporting that longtime Long Beach Police Commander Jay Johnson—a 20-year veteran of the force—has been selected as the Chief of Newport Beach Police.

Johnson was in the running to become Long Beach Chief, before the selection of Jim McDonnell was made in February of this year.

Press-Telegram crime reporter Tracy Manzer explains the severity of the loss and others like it:

The more than 20-year veteran of the force most recently served as commander of the LBPD’s South Division, the most populated division in the department and one of the most challenging with its mix of Downtown businesses and residential areas.

Johnson is also the third command staffer to leave the department this year, with former Chief of Staff and Cmdr. Jorge Cisneros taking a job as chief of the Huntington Park Police Department and Cmdr. Gary Morrison now serving as chief of the Carlsbad Police Department.

Just a few weeks ago, Johnson left his position as South Division Commander for a new job in Emergency Operations.

Follow the staging-live.lbpost.com on our Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages.