12 lagunabeachindy . com SEPTEMBER 16 , 2022
GUEST OPINION
Letter to the Community - Laguna Beach Police Chief Jeff Calvert
BY JEFF CALVERT
Dear Laguna Beach Community ,
As I reflect on the last year as your Chief of Police , serving this community has been the most rewarding part of my 30-year career . I wake up every day humbled to serve the people of this amazing community and lead and support this organization ’ s outstanding men and women . My vision is for us to be the safest coastal community in Orange County through exceptional policing and community engagement . I hope to achieve this goal through data-driving policing , using technology as a force multiplier , community outreach and engagement , and investing in our most valuable asset , our employees , with the support of the City management and City Council .
I am so proud of our team , who comes to work every day and makes personal sacrifices to ensure you are safe , secure and receive exceptional police service in the City of Laguna Beach .
Like many police organizations across the nation , we continue to feel the stress due to the ongoing ripple effects of Covid , the “ defund the police ” and anti-police movements , and staffing shortages . This is not an issue of culture at the City of Laguna Beach , but rather the same issue that is facing police departments throughout the country . Even with staffing shortages , we have continued to keep our community safe , cover all shifts , and are proud to have responded to 11,293 calls for service over the summer . Like many other cities facing police shortages , we currently have a robust recruitment campaign running with a $ 15,000 hiring bonus for qualified lateral police officers and dispatchers . We are encouraged to see an inspiring response from potential candidates across the country .
We value our employees and have also devoted time and resources to creating a wellness plan to take care of our current employees and ensure they are supported . We ’ ve contracted with a well-known police psychologist to help create a holistic plan to guide our sworn and professional staff and provide them with mental , physical , spiritual and financial support . Highlights include the addition of our first ‘ wellness facility dog ’ and a new partnership with the Laguna Beach County Water District to construct a gym at their facility for physical fitness . We will continue to invest in our employees who selflessly give so much to this community to make certain we all remain safe .
I want to highlight a few of our recent efforts to support our goal of providing exceptional public safety service while creating internal opportunities . We will soon be deploying two new apprehension and narcotics detection K-9 officers so that we have coverage seven days a week . Corporal McGuire , and his new partner K-9 Officer Rudy , just returned from their six-week training program and are already doing great . We are excited to introduce Rudy at the Sept . 20 City Council meeting and look forward to deploying our second dog early next year .
We also recently signed a new agreement with the Newport Beach Police Department to create the first SWAT ( Special Weapons and Tactics ) team in our department ’ s history . Sergeant Darrel Short and
Corporal Abe Ocampo were selected and are excited to be our first two SWAT operators . Our community recently stayed safe as a result of this team when the joint SWAT team was recently deployed in South Laguna to successfully arrest an attempted murder suspect who refused to leave his home . These new SWAT positions will create opportunities for our officers and elevate our overall training throughout our organization .
We also established the new Neighborhood Enhancement Team ( NET ). The NET Team addresses quality of life issues throughout our community and at our beaches and parks , impacted mainly by visitors . Sergeant William Downing leads the team , with Corporals Britnie Priest and Jimmy Gramer in supporting positions . When fully staffed , the NET team will include five full-time and five part-time Park Rangers , our two Community Outreach Officers to address homelessness , our traffic motor officers , and our Community Services Officer , responsible for outreach and engagement . The newly established Park Rangers will have all the same equipment as a police officer – minus a handgun . We are excited to share that our third full-time Park
CALVERT , page 14