Come January, Los Angeles police Capt. Kirk J. Albanese, will become the Valley’s new top cop, replacing Assistant Chief Michel Moore.

Albanese who assumed command of Foothill Division six years ago, and has 29 years with the Los Angeles Police Department, was anointed by new LAPD chief Charlie Beck as the new commander of the force’s Valley Bureau Nov. 19.

With eight divisions and roughly 2,000 officers to patrol 1.3 million residents in 220 square miles from Porter Ranch to Studio City, the Valley Bureau, is the largest in Los Angeles.

Albanese has won praise for opening the city's first police station in 28 years in Mission Hills, where he served as captain after mapping out the new division. He is also regarded as an agile tactician and an able administrator. He will assume command Jan. 3.

Chief Beck, who was confirmed as chief by the City Council last Tuesday Nov. 17, announced a shakeup of the department’s command staff, including the demotion of two of the LAPD’s highest ranking officials and promotion of several others, last week.

Beck promoted Moore, and he will become one of the LAPD's three assistant chiefs, and will be assigned to a newly created post in charge of Special Services.

In his new post, Moore will oversee an array of specialized operations that, until now, have been run separately, including the agency's Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau, the elite Metropolitan Division and the Detective Bureau.

Andrea Alegria