A new Anaheim chief of police has been selected to serve Orange County’s most populated city.
Manuel Cid, who currently heads Glendale’s police force of 450 people, will soon assume the Anaheim Police Department’s highest rank.
Cid will become the city’s 38th chief of police effective Dec. 29, when he fills the vacancy left by Chief Rick Armendariz, who announced in July his plans to retire. He was appointed in 2023.
The City Council unanimously approved Cid’s employment agreement on Dec. 9.
“To this community, I am excited,” Cid said after the vote. “It’s very much my way that I will pour myself into this community, and I will be out and about, and these folks will get an opportunity, and I will get an opportunity to meet with them.”
“This organization and myself are going to work tirelessly to make sure that you feel safe to work, live and play in this amazing city,” he added.
Cid will receive an annual base salary of $389,000 and about $47,000 more in annual benefits compensation, which city officials say honors Cid’s credentials and is “within Anaheim’s range for a chief of police.”
His base salary is about 10% more than what he was paid in Glendale, city officials said during the meeting. And the city will pay Cid an additional 12% of his base salary — roughly $46,000 annually — for his completion of the FBI National Academy, from which Armendariz also graduated. Armendariz’s employment contract with the city did not include compensation for having completed the program.
Per his contract, Cid would receive a 12-month severance package if he were terminated without cause.
It was mentioned during the council meeting that, with Cid now set to make more than his boss, City Manager Jim Vanderpool, who made about $386,000 this year, the city intends to adjust other executive salaries.
“Recognizing the compensation philosophy that’s adopted by the City Council,” Vanderpool said, “certainly there will be considerations for executive positions after the first of the year tied to class and comp at that percentile identified by the City Council.”
In Anaheim, Cid will lead the county’s largest city police department and its 600 employees, including more than 430 sworn officers tasked with protecting more than 340,000 residents spanning 50 square miles.
Cid also previously served as chief of the Culver City Police Department from 2020 to 2023. He has 20 years of law enforcement experience, advancing from the ranks of patrol to command staff.
Cid holds a master’s in public administration and organization from National University and a bachelor’s in political science from Whittier College. He is a first-generation Cuban American and an avid sports fan, a city press release said.