Amid ongoing criticism over declining Los Angeles Police Department staffing numbers and a spike in police shootings, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has appointed a new deputy mayor of public safety, the third person to hold that position since Bass took office in December 2022, notably less than one month before the start of the World Cup.
As part of efforts to “improve the city’s preparedness for earthquakes, fires, and major events,” Bass’ office confirmed with NBC Los Angeles Wednesday that current Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Robert Clark will now hold an unspecified executive position with the city’s Emergency Management Department.
Clark, a former assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s LA Field Office, was appointed as deputy mayor of public safety after leaving his position as executive director of the Central Texas Public Safety Commission after just nine months, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Susan “Sue” Stengel, the current inspector general of the Los Angeles Unified School District, has been named as the new deputy mayor for public safety, effective Monday, Bass’ office announced.
Stengel previously served as a public safety policy director for former Mayors Eric Garcetti and Antonio Villaraigosa. She has also held other roles within the city working with former city Councilmember Jack Weiss, the LAPD and the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The deputy mayor of public safety is a member of the mayor’s cabinet that oversees the LAPD, LAFD, the Emergency Management Department, the Los Angeles Port Police and the Los Angeles Airport Police.
Clark’s April 2025 appointment was to fill a vacancy in the role made after Brian K. Williams — the first to hold the deputy mayor of public safety position in Bass’ cabinet — was placed on administrative leave before pleading guilty in May 2025 to making a threat to bomb LA City Hall in October 2024.
Williams, in October 2024, called LAPD’s chief of staff and made a false claim that an unknown man called his city-issued phone and threatened to bomb City Hall, according to his plea agreement. About 10 minutes after contacting law enforcement, Williams sent a text message to the mayor and other high-ranking leaders to echo the false claim.
The text read, “Bomb threat: I received phone call on my city cell at 10:48 am this morning. The male caller stated that `he was tired of the city support of Israel, and he has decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the rotunda.’ I immediately contacted the chief of staff of LAPD, they are going to send a number of officers over to do a search of the building and to determine if anyone else received a threat.”
Police responded to Williams’ claim and searched through the building but did not find any explosives or suspicious devices. Federal prosecutors said Williams, himself, made the incoming call to his work-issued phone by using the Google Voice app on his personal phone. A motive for the bogus bomb threat was not disclosed publicly.
Clark did not immediately respond to a request comment from NBCLA Wednesday evening.