EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Jim McDonnell was sworn in last week as Los Angeles’ 59th police chief. 

The new chief was appointed by LA Mayor Karen Bass and then confirmed through the LA City Council. 

Former LAPD Chief Bernard Parks joined “Inside the Issues” host Amrit Singh to share his thoughts on the credentials of the new chief.

“Jim McDonnell has more credentials coming into this job than probably anyone ever has — being a police chief, being the sheriff, understanding the jail system, then going to the second highest rank in the LAPD," Parks said. "But the key is going to be whether he is allowed to perform his job or if there is going to be interference from the elected officials as it relates to him being able to put forth his agenda.”

Parks also discussed the challenges the new police chief may face.

“He’s got a lot of things to deal with: the three — four — day workweek. Officers are only working roughly three months out of the year, if you spread out a hundred and some odd days if you’re only working three days a week. There’s also the issue of the discipline. The big controversy over the prop that put three members of the community on the Board of Rights and yet they’re overruling the chief of police on discipline,” Parks said. “The two most important things the chief has to deal with are personnel matters and discipline. If you take those away from the chief of police, then he really doesn’t have the ability to orchestrate where he’s going or keeping people in line as it relates to performing their duties and keeping them in line.”

Los Angeles elected Nathan Hochman this month as its new district attorney. Parks reflected on his time as police chief and the impact the role of DA has on the police force and crime rates.

“They have a great deal of impact because they set a tone as to filing policy. They set a tone as it relates to allowing clarity to the community on what’s acceptable, not acceptable. I think what we’ve gone through over the last four years is a DA who was working off of talking points as opposed to a real understanding of the nuances of the job,” he said.

Click the arrow above to watch the full interview with Parks.