Police Events Scheduled This Week

NOT YOUR "NORMAL" WEEK AHEAD

Following Easter Sunday the week ahead in Costa Mesa brings some of the normal stuff - council meetings, committee meetings and the like.  I've already written about the agenda for the City Council meeting on Tuesday, HERE, but this week is special for a couple other reasons.

COFFEE WITH A COP - IN THE EVENING!
Wednesday evening, from 5-7 p.m., residents have a chance to attend the next "Coffee With A Cop" event at the Panera store, 235 E. 17th Street.  This is the first evening event, so more of you may be able to carve out some time to drop in for a chat with some of our Costa Mesa Police Officers.  This site is near Staples just west of Orange Avenue.

 

THURSDAY "TIP-A-COP"

Then, the next evening, Thursday, April 9th, you have ANOTHER chance to meet with members of the Costa Mesa Police Department as they serve you at the fundraiser for Special Olympics at the Claim Jumper Restaurant and Saloon, 3333 Bristol Street, from 5-9 p.m.  

BAKER-TO-VEGAS!

And, while we're talking about the men and women of the Costa Mesa Police Department, kudos to the entire team who recently participated in the Baker-to-Vegas Challenge Cup Relay - one of the toughest athletic challenges any of them will ever face.  I'm proud to say that my best friend for more than 57 years, Larry Moore, created that grueling challenge 31 years ago with his partner on the job, Chuck Foote, and it remains on the calendar of thousands of men and women in law enforcement world-wide.  You can learn about it HERE.

 DISTRACTED DRIVING AWARENESS MONTH 

And, a little reminder from the CMPD.  Recently they distributed an announcement about April being "Distracted Driving Awareness Month".  Law enforcement organizations will be working on increased educational opportunities during this month.  Here's the text of that message.

Just to help you understand the problem, here's a little video that might drive home the point.  A viewing hint: If you're viewing this page on the Home Page and see the archive information cluttering up the image below, just slide your cursor over to the right side of the page and click on the title of this post before beginning the video.  It will take you to this page by itself, without the archive information intruding in the image.

So, be advised that every second you allow yourselves to be distracted while driving is one that could put the lives of yourselves and others in jeopardy.

Have a great week...

Burglar Caught In Short Order

ANOTHER CMPD WIN!
Another win for the depleted staff of the Costa Mesa Police Department this week.  According to a press release yesterday, early Monday morning - around 2 a.m. - rookie CMPD officer Jake Jacobi and his partner, James Brown, were cruising along Harbor Blvd. looking for suspicious activity.  Jacobi observed a bicyclist who appeared to be trying to evade them.  They made a stop for a minor violation and discovered that the bicyclist, Luis Morales, was on probation.  He admitted to possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

MORE THAN DRUGS!
However, Morales was found to be holding more than just drugs.  He was also carrying numerous items of women's gold jewelry.  Morales was arrested and the officers met with fellow officer Jodi Schmidt at the police station to compare notes on a residential break-in for which she had taken the report less than four hours earlier.

STOLEN TREASURES IDENTIFIED
The short version of the story is that the jewelry Morales was carrying was identified as the items stolen earlier at the burglary on Maple Street.  Although worth about $2,000, several items were priceless to the owner - family heirlooms given to the her as a family tradition.

A PROPER END...
Morales was booked at the CMPD Jail for burglary in addition to the drug charges.  He was later transported and booked at the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana with bail set at $20,000.  CMPD detectives made arrangements with the jewelry theft victim so she could later claim her stolen belongings.

GREAT JOB!
Kudos to all involved.  Despite running with a skeleton crew, the men and women of the Costa Mesa Police Department continue to serve the community at a high level of professionalism and proficiency.

*****

KUDOS TO THE NBPD RUNNERS
In a sidebar, I also received a notice that the team from the Newport Beach Police Department finished 1st in their division and 5th overall in the Baker-To-Vegas Challenge Cup Relay event last weekend.  The NBPD team consistently does well in this event - a grueling relay that begins 24 miles outside Baker, California and ends the next day in Las Vegas.  The 20 runners finished in an impressive 14 hours, 54 minutes.  Some may know that my pal, Larry Moore, created that event 25  years ago while he was on the Los Angeles Police Department and conducted it until his untimely death ten years ago.

COSTA MESA NOT REPRESENTED
Unfortunately, because of our severely depleted staff, the Costa Mesa Police Department was unable to send a team to this event.  Some might say, "Well, so what?  We pay them to be cops, not run."  That's true, but this event is run on their own off-duty time for the teamwork and spirit of the event, and to represent their city - OUR city.  This event has teams from around the world and life-long friendships have been made among the competitors from different parts of the world through the competition.  It is my hope that Costa Mesa will soon be able to field a team in this event - it will be one sign of a healthy department once again.

CMPD Out Of Baker-To-Vegas Relay

NO CMPD PRESENCE THIS YEAR
Earlier this week I learned of yet another consequence of the short-sighted, vindictive attitude taken by the current Costa Mesa City Council majority toward the Costa Mesa Police Department.  I learned that, due to the severity of the current staffing situation, no members of the CMPD will participate in the annual Baker-To-Vegas Challenge Cup Relay that will be held late in March.  You can read about that event HERE.  As some may already know, my best friend for 57 years of our lives, Larry Moore, was the co-creator of this event and served as its Race Director up until his passing a decade ago.  You can read about the race history HERE.

A RARE ABSENCE...
It's true.  For one of the very few times in the past two decades a Costa Mesa Police Department team will NOT be among the 8,000+ runners from around the world participating in this grueling event.  Despite the best efforts of Chief Tom Gazsi and his command staff, because we have so few officers on the street - extraordinary numbers of overtime hours being worked and officers not normally assigned to patrol duties out on the streets, trying to keep the city safe - it is simply not possible for the CMPD to field a team this year.  Officers participate in this race on their own time, but staff shortages will keep that from happening this time around.

LOST RELATIONSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Several of our neighboring cities participate each year.  Newport Beach, for example, does exceptionally well in this event.  Competition and camaraderie have been the watchwords of this event, with friendships and working relationships forged during the race that last a lifetime.

IGNORED ADVICE
So, we have yet another reason to tell Mayor Jim Righeimer, Mayor Pro Tem Steve Mensinger and Gary Monahan, just how you feel about them ignoring their own consultant's recommendations and the advice of highly respected senior law enforcement leaders - former Interim Chief (twice) Steve Staveley and legendary former CMPD Chief Dave Snowden - and cutting staffing to levels unseen in our city in nearly three decades.  You can tell them how you feel about them refusing to permit Chief Gazsi to even BEGIN the lengthy recruitment process to fill existing and anticipated vacancies for upcoming retirements for more than two years, putting us way, way behind the curve.

TOXIC WORK ENVIRONMENT
You also can thank them for creating such a toxic work environment - including suing the men and women of the CMPD - that lateral transfers OUT of the department accelerated and exacerbated the recruitment dilemma.  We are NOT a safer city due to their actions.  As former Interim Chief Staveley - shown here -  said in his letter of resignation, "They are, in my opinion, incompetent, unskilled and unethical." Please take a moment out of your busy day to drop them a note to let them know how you feel.

THEY CONTINUE TO SOLDIER-ON...
In the meantime, the men and women of the Costa Mesa Police Department continue to show up for every shift, sacrifice irreplaceable family time to work the overtime demanded of them and do their very best to keep the residents and visitors to our city safe.  We should all thank them for their efforts on our behalf.

 

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