The City of Irvine was incorporated on July 1, 1971. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department handled policing services for the City’s first year. In September 1972, Irvine contracted with the City of Costa Mesa to provide policing services. This arrangement lasted until July 1, 1975, when the Irvine Police Department was formed. Leo E. Peart, the Irvine Police Department’s first Chief, commanded a department of 36 sworn police officers and 10 non-sworn employees. He instilled within the department a philosophy of community service based on a "spirit of the law" concept.
The new department responded to 64,019 calls for service in its first year while serving the 39,651 residents of Irvine. The department was housed in a portable trailer on Verano Place adjacent to what is now Campus Plaza. The 24 vehicles of the Irvine Police department were distinguished by their distinctive green and blue racing stripes over the top of the white cars, meant to provide easy visibility to the public.
In December of 1976 the growing police department moved into a larger facility at the corner of Jamboree and McGaw. The department also began to civilianize many of its functions by replacing police officers with non-sworn personnel. The 57 sworn members of the department were now complemented by 21 non-sworn employees, including civilian Public Safety Assistants who assisted with report writing. Calls for service in 1977 jumped to 93,848.
From its initial founding, the Irvine Police department has asked its officers to provide a level of service and respond to a variety of calls that range from the unusual to the unbelievable. Early on Officers assisted Irvine Ranch deputies with cattle drives and helped round up animals that escaped from Lion County Safari, including an elephant that escaped after killing its trainer and a runaway hippo named Bubbles. The closing of Lion Country Safari brought new challenges to the men and women of the Irvine Police department. The opening of the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater (renamed Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in 2001) brought acts such as the Grateful Dead to the city, which often resulted in small riots and necessitated assistance from other Orange County police agencies. Irvine officers were also tasked with patrolling the Orange County Raceway until it’s closing, and assisted the United States Marine Corps with the annual El Toro Air Show. This three-day event brought up to a million visitors in the City.
In 1981 the Irvine Police department expanded its policing capabilities by adding canine officers to the patrol force and motorcycle enforcement to the traffic bureau. These additions were necessary to keep up with the rapidly expanding residential and industrial areas of the City.
Nineteen Eighty-Four brought the Olympics to Irvine, as the swimming portion of the pentathlon was held at the Heritage Park Aquatics Center. Hosting the Olympics necessitated the addition of a new emergency command post vehicle to the Police department fleet to allow for mobile communications at major law enforcement scenes.
The eighties were a period of rapid growth for the City and the department. In 1989, to cap off this decade of growth, the Police department moved into its brand new, permanent facility at the new City Hall Civic Center. This facility brought badly needed space to the department, including a new dispatch center, a custody facility, and facilities for investigations, briefing, and employee lockers.
In 1991 Chief Peart retired and Charles S. Brobeck was sworn in as Irvine’s second Chief of Police. The change in Chief was reflected in a visible change to the department’s patrol fleet: the green and blue racing stripe was replaced with a distinct blue stripe down the sides of the vehicles.
During Chief Brobeck’s term the department continued to expand its public service and criminal enforcement roles in the community. Programs such as DARE were implemented, and investigative specialties such as narcotics enforcement, vehicle theft, and economic crimes grew to keep pace with, and prevent, crime in the City. Department personnel also began to participate in activities such as the annual Baker to Vegas 120 mile relay race. Each year the Irvine Police Association sponsors a team of officers and support personnel to participate in the race, which brings teams of law enforcement officers worldwide to Nevada to take part in the event.
Irvine continued its rapid growth through the 1990s and the Irvine Police department remained dedicated to making Irvine the safest city possible. The efforts of the dedicated men and women of the department were rewarded in 1993 when Irvine was named the "safest city in America." Since then Irvine has remained in the top ten safest cities in the United States, a testament to the dedication, hard work, and quality service that the Irvine Police department and its officers offers to the City and its residents.
After ten years at the helm, Chief Brobeck retired in 2001. By the time of his retirement, the department had grown to 161 sworn officers serving a growing population of over 149,000 residents in a 49 square mile area. Chief Michael Berkow took over as Chief and instituted a comprehensive reorganization of the department based on the concept of "geographic based policing." The goal was to bring officers into closer contact with the residents and businesses in the areas they patrol in order to facilitate better communication and partnerships that could lead to improving the quality of life and community safety.
Before the transition to geographic policing could be fully implemented, however, Chief Berkow left the Irvine Police department to take a command staff position with Chief William Bratton and the Los Angeles Police department. With his departure, Deputy Chief Dave Maggard was promoted to Irvine’s fourth Chief of Police. Chief Maggard continued Chief Berkow’s vision and implemented geographic policing. Currently, the City is divided into the University, Crossroads, and Portola patrol areas. Each area is commanded by a Police Commander whose staff of sergeants, officers, and civilians commits themselves to working a full year in their patrol area.
Along with the transition to geo-policing the department has been in the process of updating and modernizing its patrol force and policing capabilities. The department installed modern computer terminals in the patrol vehicles, vehicle locators allowing dispatchers to know the location of units in the field, and a modern computer aided dispatch. The Irvine Police department has continued its progressive approach to law enforcement by equipping its offices with new .45 caliber handguns, as well as less lethal munitions such as OC Spray and Tasers. The department has also continued its commitment to the residents of Irvine through such innovative programs as the School Resource Officer program, the Every 15 Minutes program, increased traffic enforcement that includes enforcement targeted at commercial vehicles, drug detection canines, and bloodhounds.
As the department moves into the twenty-first century the City continues to expand. The annexation of the former El Toro Marine Base, as well as land in the "Northern Sphere" has created a city of almost 79 square miles, the largest land mass city in the county. As the City continues to grow, the outstanding men and women of the Irvine Police department are prepared to grow and adapt with it. As the short history of the department shows, the Irvine Police department is constantly adapting to meet the challenges of policing a growing, progressive population.
For more information on the history of the City of Irvine, and the surrounding areas, please visit the Irvine Historical Societies website located at: www.irvineranchhistory.org
