From the Desk of Chief Klein

July 7, 2009

Dear Residents of Newport Beach:

As I reach the end of my 30-year career serving
this world class Community, I want to take a
moment to examine some of our past accomplishments
and look to the future.

Now that we have successfully survived another
July 4th holiday, and this year, as in years
past, we spent a great deal of effort in preparing
for this celebration. As the holiday fell on a
Saturday this year, we anticipated it would draw
large crowds, which required us to deploy a
significant number of personnel to ensure for a
safe and enjoyable celebration for residents and
visitors alike.

We deployed close to 300 officers across the
City, which included a number of officers from
other jurisdictions who were brought in to
supplement our personnel. Even without any
significant incidents occurring, we arrested
approximately 120 people, mostly for alcohol-
related offenses.

The success of the July 4th holiday in
Newport Beach can be attributed to the level of
cooperation between the Police Department, the
Community, and many other City Departments.

One of my goals as Chief has been to increase
the Police Department’s participation within the
Community. The success of these efforts has been
evidenced by the strong partnership we have
developed with the residents and business owners
in addressing many long-term areas of concern,
such as alcohol-related activities, disruptive
behavior on the west side, safety and
environmental concerns in Corona Del Mar, boardwalk
safety, teen safety, and commercial traffic safety.

We have also worked to target crime patterns as
soon as they have been identified, which has
included early Community notifications via crime
alerts, and additional focused patrols. As we
approached these issues and developed solutions,
we utilized all of the available City resources
and worked closely with the residents in the
impacted areas.

As we look ahead, the Police Department will
continue to provide the high level of service this
Community expects and deserves. Rest assured that
our services from Animal Control, Parking Control,
Public Relations, Dispatch, Traffic, Patrol, and
Investigations will continue without disruption.

The Police Department is fortunate to employ very
high quality personnel throughout the organization,
and it is for this reason that we have and will
continue to provide the highest level of service
to our Community.

I believe Newport Beach is served by the best
Police Department in the County, and I am confident
that will not change. For the past 30 years, I have
enjoyed the support of this great Community, and
that support has never been more evident than
during my past two years as Chief.

As I wrap up my time in Newport Beach, I want to
thank each of you for the opportunity I have had
to serve and be a part of this amazing Community.
I strongly encourage each of you to continue to
support the men and women of the Police Department,
as your support makes a great difference.

Sincerely,
John Klein
CHIEF OF POLICE