New Team Member!

Nicholas Harbert, Police Officer

Nicholas was raised in Buena Park and is a graduate of Liberty Christian High School in Huntington Beach. In 2016, he was hired by La Palma Police Department as a Police Officer. During his career with La Palma, he held the positions of Corporal, Field Training Officer, a member of Serious Traffic Accident Team, and an operator for North County SWAT as a sniper.

Welcome to the CMPD team!

Training & Recruitment

PAT and Interviews

On August 13, applicants participated in the Physical Agility Test (PAT), including push-ups, sit-ups, a 500-yard run, a body drag, and weapons manipulation. Applicants who want to become officers must successfully meet or exceed the physical fitness standards to continue in the hiring process. Those who passed went on to the oral panel. From this process, four candidates are currently in the background process.  

FARO Training

Between August 15 and August 19, the Traffic Safety Bureau’s Major Accident Investigation Team and CSI personnel were trained on a FARO scanner, a new hardware/software, in order to more effectively map traffic collisions and crime scenes. This allows the police department to document the scenes in a full 3D rendering and is much faster and accurate than the old 2D process.

The CSI team work closely with officers and detectives to assist in an investigation. They respond to process a scene whenever they are needed to collect and document evidence, which includes photography, DNA collection, blood spatter, impression evidence (shoe prints/toolmarks), among other duties. This innovative technology, that other police departments also use, will assist in getting accurate 3D renderings of traffic collisions, and crime scenes by properly documenting of bullet trajectory and blood pattern analysis.  

Lexipol Award

In August, CMPD received an award from Lexipol to recognize the department on the achievement in policy management and dedication to updating and training the team on policy. 

Per Lexipol, to achieve a given performance level, all applicable criteria for that level must be met. Bronze level performance can be achieved by meeting the minimum required performance for three metrics – Policies Issued, Updates Pending and DTBs Issued. To achieve the Silver or Gold performance level, a minimum performance for Policies Acknowledged and DTBs Taken is also required in a higher range. CMPD received the highest honor of Gold!

Congratulations, Team! 

A Word On Promotions

By: Chief Ron Lawrence

As Charles Dickens wrote in his classic book A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” and so it is true with promotional periods in a police organization; at least for the police chief making the decision on who to promote.

Promotional opportunities create an exciting buzz around most organizations, generating a chance for at least one person to excel in his or her career by advancing into a formal position of leadership and official rank. While the eligibility list remains in effect for one year, those remaining on the eligibility list are candidates who are often equally qualified and just as prepared for promotion as the person selected, but not chosen simply because there was only one vacancy in the rank. Then there are those who competed in the promotional examination process who did not make it to the eligibility list, but who are nonetheless daring leaders who will no doubt be back stronger in the next opportunity.

We are fortunate to have outstanding leaders at CMPD, both formal and informal leaders. One does not need to have a title or rank to be a leader; leadership manifests through one's character and actions, and we should all applaud those brave souls who participate in a promotional exam because they are courageous leaders willing to step up in front of the entire organization to take a shot at promotion. All who took part, whether on the eligibility list or not, are in the arena leading with honor by virtue of their willingness to be bold and give it a go; they deserve credit for making a difference in our profession and they all have my deepest respect.

As a former New York City Police Commissioner (1895-1897) and later President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, quoted in his 1910 speech The Man in the Arena, "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Community Policing Unit

Every Thursday, the Community Policing Unit (CPU) patrols Costa Mesa on their bicycles.

On August 25, CPU rode 15 miles; this was also the last ride for Lt. Matt Grimmond as the CPU sergeant. They offered assistance to people experiencing homelessness. They also enforced some quality of life issues such as blocking the sidewalk, drinking in public, and drug possession. CPU officers also worked with the City of Costa Mesa’s Public Works Department to remove trash left in public areas and to also remove graffiti. They made one arrest for ‘sex registrant out of compliance’ and wrote five other tickets for misdemeanor crimes.

OC Fair Ends

The annual OC Fair held at the OC Fairgrounds is usually well attended. This year was no different. There were several days during the OC Fair where almost every parking lot on the fairgrounds and surrounding lots were full. This year on average, the OC Fair welcomed over 45,000 people daily. The OC Fair was active for 23 days and there were over a million participants that patronized the fair overall. There were days where traffic in the area was impacted, but all the CMPD team members that assisted traffic control from all over the department made sure traffic flowed as smoothly as possible by directing traffic to open lots. The OC Fairgrounds is under the jurisdiction of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, but CMPD is responsible for surrounding Costa Mesa streets. This year, like every year, CMPD made every effort to ease OC Fair traffic.

“The Costa Mesa Police Department once again did an outstanding job of staffing traffic control during an extremely busy OC Fair,” said Traffic Sergeant Dan Miles. “I am thankful for all the assistance that the Traffic Safety Bureau received from team members from all over the department. Teamwork was key.”

Costa Mesa Residents Meet the Chief

In August, Chief Lawrence hosted four Listening Tour events at various locations throughout Costa Mesa; Mayor John Stephens was also present. The Listening Tours have provided the community an opportunity to personally meet Chief Lawrence. The Listening Tours also provided the residents with a chance to discuss community concerns in their area with the Chief and Mayor Stephens, along with other City Councilmembers in attendance. The Listening Tours began August 8 in District 3 at Vanguard University. The second Listening Tour was on August 17 in District 1 at the Mesa Verde United Methodist Church. The third was August 22 in District 2 at the Newport Mesa Unified School District offices, and the fourth was that same week, August 24, in District 6 at the Boys and Girls Club. 

All meetings have started at 1800 hours with Mayor Stephens and the present Councilmember welcoming residents and then introducing Chief Lawrence. Chief Lawrence then shared the state of the department, changes and improvements being implemented, and what the future might hold for CMPD. He then opened up the floor to residents for questions. Each district has its own specific concerns. Some concerns include speeding motorists, a short-term rental property, a potential cannabis dispensary concern, e-bikes, or individuals experiencing homelessness. On the whole, residents were also curious about staffing numbers and the growth of the department. 

The last two Listening Tours are will be held in September: September 7 in District 4 at Shalimar Park, and September 21 in District 5 at the Senior Center.