Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) Chief Robert Luna made two new assignments within the department this week.
Richard Conant, a 24-year LBPD veteran, will fulfill the position of police commander and lead the Internal Affairs Division, and Robert Smith, who is currently the commander of the Internal Affairs Division, will begin a new assignment as West Division commander on Jan. 10.
Conant began his career with the LBPD in February 1991. In 2006, he was promoted to sergeant and, in 2011, to lieutenant.
“Commander Conant has a diverse work history, including patrol, homicide, gang enforcement, the Office of the Chief of Police, and the SWAT team,” states an LBPD press release.
Conant has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from California State University, Long Beach, and he completed the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute and FBI Crisis Negotiation Team Leadership training. He is a current member of the Leadership Long Beach Institute Class of 2015.
Smith began his career as a police officer with the LBPD in 1990. His assignments have included working as a patrol officer, field training officer, community policing officer, as a drug enforcement detective, as well as in the Special Enforcement Section. He has extensive experience in community policing and at one point led the department’s Community Oriented Public Safety (COPS) Office.
Smith has a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice from California State University, Fullerton, and an associate of arts degree from Golden West College. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Delinquency Control Institute and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) National Academy, 234th Session.
Source: LBPD
