MBPD Promotes Two Officers

Two Manhattan Beach Police officers have been promoted to lieutenant. 

Officers Christian Eichenlaub and Ryan Small were acknowledged during a promotion ceremony last week.

Small started his career with MBPD in 1990 as a records technician/matron and then became a jailer in 1995. A year later, he joined the reserve officer corps, and in 1996, graduated from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Academy and became a police officer.

Small has participated on the DUI team and in DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education). In 1999, he was promoted to detective and worked as the court liaison officer and juvenile/sex crimes investigator. Five years later, he was assigned to LA IMPACT (Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force), a multi-jurisdictional task force dedicated to apprehending career criminals and drug traffickers.

Small was promoted to sergeant in 2008 and worked as the patrol Watch Commander, in addition to supervising the crisis negotiations team, peer support team and reserve officer corps. 

Currently, he is assigned to patrol as the dayshift lieutenant.

Eichenlaub began his career in law enforcement in 1994 as a reserve police officer with the City of Santa Monica. A year later, he joined the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department where he was assigned to the Men’s Central Jail and the Century Regional Detention Facility.

Eichenlaub joined MBPD in 2000, and has worked patrol, beach patrol and as a motor officer in traffic.

In 2008, he was promoted to sergeant and was assigned to patrol as a Watch Commander. 

Eichenlaub has held a number of collateral assignments, including working on the South Bay platoon and as a firearms instructor, use of force instructor and as a sniper on the SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) Team. 

He recently graduated from the prestigious FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. 

As a lieutenant, Eichenlaub will be assigned to MBPD's Patrol Division.