It’s not that often they are confused for the other.
It’s been at least a decade since Kevin, pretending to be Kim,
tendered his resignation to Kim’s secretary.
Kevin is the oldest - born 12 minutes ahead of Kim.
But Kim was the first to make chief - 10 years ahead of
Kevin.
Not to be outdone, Kevin says: “my department is three
times bigger.”
They’ve never been far from one another. Growing up,
Kim played a shortstop, and Kevin played second base. In
football, Kim was a cornerback while Kevin played safety.
They were usually on the same team.
Kevin was the first to get a job in policing, as a Garden
Grove cadet. Kim wasn’t far behind, applying to follow his
brother to Garden Grove. He ended up at Covina because
of Garden Grove’s then nepotism policy.
They are the only twin-brother police chiefs in California,
and are believed to be only the second set of twins in U.S.
history to become police chiefs at the same time, following
identical twin brothers James Peach (Kent, Ohio Police
Chief ) and John Peach (Kent State University Police
Chief ). The city of Kent and Kent State University have
separate police departments, but frequently communicate.
The twins headed their departments for several years, prior
to James Peach’s retirement in 2010.
Although they are fraternal twins, many people “think we’re
identical,” Kevin Raney says.
When Kevin Raney was sworn in as chief last year, Kim
arrived in his Covina Police Chief ’s uniform.
“A bunch of retired Garden Grove guys kept congratulating
me. And I kept saying, ‘you might want to congratulate him
over there,’” Kim says, pointing to his brother. “After about
the fifth time, I finally gave up and just said ‘thank you.’”
Both grew up at their respective departments, marveling at
the other through promotions, award ceremonies and other
successes.
“It’s unusual to have two brothers grow up to be police
chiefs,” Kevin says.
Kim has enjoyed a highly decorated career, which includes
having served as President of the Los Angeles County
Police Chiefs Association and on myriad boards of directors
that focus on furthering the interests of local youth and
leadership in the policing profession. He is currently
the 2nd Vice President of the California Police Chiefs
Association.
Honored as the Covina Police Officer of the Year in 1997,
Kim has held several positions in the department and
received numerous community and department awards,
including the Lifesaving Medal and the Distinguished
Service Award. His hobbies are lifting weights and “any
connections to sanity,” he quipped.
Fall 2011
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