Kelson McDaniel

Kelson was born in New London, Ind. on March 19, 1937. He was the 5th child of 6. His dad was a steel worker. In high school he was a Varsity Baseball pitcher, and played the leading role in 2 high school drama productions. He majored in math and industrial arts and graduated from Western High in 1955.

In 1956 Kelson joined the Army for a three-year stint. He graduated from MP school at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Upon graduation the Provost Marshall General saw him working on a sign project and asked his commander if he could have Kelson assigned as an artist illustrator. The rest of his tour was spent preparing visual aids for the Provost Marshal General’s School instructors. He worked part time as a bartender at the officers club and was the alternate driver for the General.

When he left the army, Kelson came to CA and attended Orange Coast College as a business major student. He played center on the JV Basketball team. Kelson met Charlene at that time, and they married in 1961. Kelson was working for “Kings for Men” clothing store. One day he came home and Charlene suggested that he apply for a job

at NBPD, which he did and a short time later was hired. John Upson was the Chief at that time.

Kelson said that when Ken Thompson and Al Epstein came to the store to interview him during the background investigation, he sold Kenny a $12 suit.

Kelson went through a 40 hour training class at the PD with the starting wage of $449 a month. He attended a second academy with John Malmquist and Richard Fox; graduated 2nd–beaten out by 1/10th of a point by a HB officer. Chief Glavas came to work just before Kelson’s probation period was over and extended everyone’s probation. That meant Kelson had to wait 6 more months for his raise.

After working Patrol for 2 1⁄2 years Kelson became the Chief’s adjutant in 1963. He was in charge of recruitment and actually hired many of today’s retirees, including his then neighbor, yours truly.

Part of the job was Reserve Coordinator. During that time he hired 55 reserves, many of them school teachers. Bob Duncan, Dick McCarthy, and Kerry Livingston were among that group and Kelson gave them a 40 hour training class. They worked all parts of the PD but their big thing was working Easter weeks and summers. Neal Purcell was also one of those reserves.

Kelson also mentioned that he worked Mole Patrol with Bill Blue which was a real learning experience. In 1965 Kelson went back to Patrol to prepare for the Sgt. test. He was promoted to Sgt. in 1965 along with Don Picker, Jim Spears, Les Chapman and Rick Hamilton. In 1968 he was selected by the supervisory staff as Supervisor of the year. He worked in the Patrol division all his years at the rank of Sergeant.

One of Kelson’s pet peeves when he was a patrol supervisor was sideburn length. If your sideburns inched down too far you were liable to be sent home until they were trimmed. It was the rule?

Kelson was promoted to Lt. in June of 1969 and worked as Watch Commander on shifts between Lieutenants Blue and Laurin. In 1972 he was transferred to the Services division as the Management Services Section Supervisor in charge of Community Relations, Training, Planning and Research and Special Projects. His first special project was to save the Helicopter program which was under fire by a citizen’s group. Kelson’s report to the City Council lead to a unanimous vote to keep the program. He was then assigned the job of overseeing the design and construction of the new police department. The budget restraints were nearly impossible, (1.2 million or forget it) however Kelson came in under budget and built the building for a record low cost for municipal buildings at $29.00 per square foot, furnished. Many days of volunteer labor (some trustee) and donated equipment and scrounged furniture went into the work. The project was completed 2 years later and remains the current police department. He was a recipient of a merit award as a result.

Kelson tells the story about planning and developing a CAD system that was state of the art. He wrote a grant to fund the CAD system. The grant was approved for $186,000 dollars, a fortune in those times. One thing the Fed’s required was that the department

hires 14 black officers to meet the Federal guidelines for integration. Chief Glavas refused to let the federal government dictate to him who he was going to hire so the grant was never received.

Kelson was disappointed that the PD did not receive the grant but became proud that the CAD system he worked on was placed in the new Aero Space Museum in DC which opened July 4, 1976. He and City Manager Bob Wynn were invited to go to DC where Kelson turned on the switch the first day of its operation.

Kelson left Newport in 1979 to become Chief at Los Alamitos; a job he held until 1985 when he became Chief in San Clemente. After leaving San Clemente he was hired as an interim Chief at four other agencies–Westminster (Asst. Chief), Pomona, Rocklin, and Sanger.

Kelson has also worked for 2 years as a training consultant to CA Police Agencies for the Law Enforcement TV Network, “CNN for Cops.”

Kelson holds all POST certificates from Basic through Executive, an AA in Police Science from OCC, a BS degree in Public Management from Pepperdine at LA, and a M.A. Degree in Public Communications from Pepperdine at Malibu, and is a Graduate of F.B.I. National Academy class number 105.

In 1994 Kelson joined Sally, his current wife, in the real estate business in which he is still employed at First Team Real Estate. Kelson and Sally have been married for 29 years. Between them they have four children and 15 grand children. Sally and Kelson live in San Clemente where friends are always welcome.

Interviewed by Stan Bressler