Recently I had a chance to meet with the Captain at Amy's Patio Cafe in order to get to know him as a person.

With my position on the Town Council some have even accused the entire council (including myself) of being "in bed" with Captain McLean and other community leaders with some outlandish scheme to run people of a certain persuasion out of Altadena. To call this absurd would be a gross understatement.

My reason for writing this article is not to defend anyone, but to let you see inside the person, Steven McLean, and allow you to formulate your own opinion of him. 

With the recent town-hall meeting, issues with the department have been discussed at great length, so my purpose here is to give people a chance to know a little about the person running their department.

Steven McLean is the son of Hispanic immigrants who grew up here in Southern California. He himself was a troubled "at-risk" child that was arrested a couple of times before someone pulled him to the side and pointed him in the right direction. Because of his Hispanic heritage he faced much of the typical stereotyping as a child.

As a young lad he was held back in first grade because he could not fit in at a majority "white school" back in those days. Because of this he had very low self-esteem. He didn't believe in himself. It was his alcoholic father that lovingly taught him to "never give up on yourself." Although his father had his problems, he otherwise had a great heart and was a loving father, according to McLean.

Unfortunately, his father also saw nothing wrong with giving a kid alcohol.  McLean's father got him drunk as early as age five.

By the time he was a teenager he was getting drunk every weekend, and he got arrested twice as a juvenile.

He also struggled to learn in school- he ended up finishing high school in a special education program.

It was suggested that young McLean join the local Sheriff's Explorers where he initially failed until one deputy sheriff decided to personally give him a second chance. This is what led him into law enforcement. Someone gave him a second chance to believe in himself.

Since McLean didn't do well in school it was much later in life that he achieved most of his educational credentials. At age 41 he achieved his A.S. in Administration of Justice, his B.S. Degree in Occupational Studies at age 48, and at age 51 he earned his Master's Degree in Criminal Justice. He is also a graduate from the FBI National Academy at Quantico, Virginia.

McLean is a recipient of numerous awards for exemplary service as a law enforcer during his 30-plus years of service to the department. This is what we expect of one appointed to be our commander-in-chief, but what is it that personally drives him?

The captain shared with me his strategy as head in command to be four-fold:  Community Partnership with the citizens, Prevention, Intervention and Suppression. This is what he stresses to his entire department.

He encourages his officers to interact more with the community from a human-to-human level whenever possible in order to change this longstanding image of law enforcers.

There is no doubt, and for good reason, that many do not have a good image of law-enforcement officers. This image has to change if they want to be in partnership with the community. No one wants to partner where there is no trust.

By way of prevention the Captain stated, "Our officers need to do a better job of not tagging our youth as potential criminals,  instead, "as children with backpacks." This is a fine line to walk but it must be done. "We need to stop looking at children as potential criminals and find ways of reaching out to them," he continued.

This is similar to what happened to young McLean as a youth.

"From person-to-person, block-to-block and neighborhood-to-neighborhood the department has to work diligently at creating a partnership toward dealing with crime," McLean said. "This will take some time, but it is the current philosophy."

The captain welcomes the opportunity to speak with any size group of citizens about his policies concerning law enforcement. "The buck stops with me." He says, "If my officers are acting poorly I take full responsibility for their actions, but just allow me the opportunity to fully investigate the matter."

As far as intervention is concerned there are a few great programs that are already approved for our area.  VIDA (Vital Intervention Directional Alternative) is a program that targets at risk children and gives them an opportunity to turn their lives around rather than being tagged by the criminal justice system. Once tagged it is almost impossible to shed that distinction. Too many of our minorities are disproportionally tagged and never recover. VIDA gives them just such a chance.

Suppression is a different issue. The Captain has zero-tolerance for gang activities. "I don't have a softball approach when it comes to dealing with gang members or criminals who want to enter your homes in the dead of night while your children are in bed asleep," says the captain.

He is nonetheless supportive of those who want to turn their lives around. He insists upon being tough on criminals. "That is the job I was hired to achieve and I'm willing to take flack for being tough on crime," McLean said.

Like him or not, being the head law enforcement officer is a tough job. We need a tough person in charge. You can't please everyone and be an effective captain. Before you judge this captain ignorantly, sit down with him and listen to what he has to say to you. If you still don't like him after that meeting, then part in peace.

Get to know Steven McLean so you may likewise know the man who is in charge of our local Sheriff's Station.