He's served more than three decades with the Los Angeles Police Department, but Bayan Lewis will best be remembered for his last three months.
In the LAPD record books, his stint as the department's 51st chief will go down as one of the briefest. But by most accounts, the 55-year-old cop has left a noticeable mark on the agency, injecting life and leadership into an organization that had been adrift and demoralized for at least a year, if not longer.
"He put a sense of family back into the organization," said LAPD Cmdr. Art Lopez, who was a semifinalist to become the next chief.
Lewis took the job in May with the task of bridging the gap between deposed Chief Willie L. Williams and the LAPD's next leader, who is expected to be selected this week. His goal, he said, was to make a difference.
"I've had to move quickly because I don't have a lot of time," said Lewis, who plans to retire later this month when a new chief is sworn into office. "I was not going to sit around and be a caretaker."
From the day Lewis put on the chief's badge, people inside and outside LAPD headquarters at Parker Center could see that things were going to be different.
Lewis confidently strode through hallways wearing the traditional dark blue officer's uniform, not the business suits that Williams preferred. Lewis attended meetings at City Hall rather than sending his underlings as Williams frequently had. And the interim chief tried to have a greater presence with the rank and file, keeping officers abreast of department business with videotaped messages played during roll calls.
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As an assistant chief under Williams, Lewis was aware that simple actions could carry lasting impressions within the department. He knew that officers grumbled when Williams knocked down a wall on the sixth floor of Parker Center so he could double the size of his office.
After becoming chief, Lewis also decided to renovate, but his plan calls for putting the wall back to make the size of the office "more appropriate."
"For the past three months, the ship has finally had a rudder," said an aide to a City Council member, who works on public safety issues.
Since taking the job as interim chief, Lewis has tackled an ambitious array of issues, making difficult and unpopular decisions on some matters so the new chief won't be burdened with them.
Among his accomplishments, Lewis has:
