Newport Beach Police Department

If a loved one, a family member or you have been arrested by or are being investigated by the Newport Beach Police Department, it can cause a lot of anxiety. 

Facing such a situation, knowing the bail amount (if any) associated with the offense or offenses at issue if police deny an own recognizance (OR) release may ease that anxiety.  It is also helpful to know what evidence is needed to convict one for the crime or crimes that allegedly took place, the defenses possible and the sentence a judge can impose if one is convicted of the crime or crimes. 

 
We at Greg Hill & Associates believe it is prudent to know a few more things before interacting with any branch of law enforcement.  It can be wise to know the size of the police or sheriff’s department, the area’s demographics, the most common types of crimes the department investigates and just a bit about the area’s history to make one’s communication with law enforcement more meaningful, more savvy and perhaps, more respectful.  This can lead to a better outcome than if one lacks such perspective.

This article is presented with these goals in mind.

The Newport Beach Police Department is a large station with 163 sworn police officers and civilian support personnel assigned to it.  Based on the approximate ratio of sworn officers to staff in other police forces, we estimate Newport Beach Police Department has at least 120 sworn officers. 

The Newport Beach Police Department is responsible for patrolling the City of Newport Beach, which includes Balboa Island.  This island draws visitors with a waterfront path and easy access from the ferry to the shops and restaurants.

The city is 52.92 square miles (of which 29.13 square miles is water) and has a population of approximately 80,000.  However, it draws many visitors to the area, so the total number of people within the city is far higher than its population. 

Newport Beach includes Corona Del Mar, Balboa Island, the Balboa Peninsula, Lido Peninsula, Newport Coast, San Joaquin Hills, Santa Ana Heights and West Newport.  Newport Harbor has approximately 9,000 boats and is one of the largest recreational boat harbors on the U.S. west coast.

Along the highways that cross the city, the California Highway Patrol, not the Laguna Beach Police Department, handles the arrests.  The arrested person, however, may then be taken to the Laguna Beach Police Station for booking and holding.

As of 2020, the city’s population was 75.50% non-Hispanic white, 8.73% Asian, 0.73% African American and 9.61% Hispanic.

Most cases arising out of the Newport Beach Police Department’s areas of responsibility are brought at the Harbor Justice Center (Newport Beach) Courthouse, but some are also brought at the Central Justice Center at 700 Civic Center Driver West in downtown Santa Ana.  Cases that may be filed at the Central Justice Center instead of at the Harbor Justice Center would be very serious cases needing specialized prosecutors trained in handling such cases.

Over the last 25 years, our office has handled perhaps 100 cases arising out the Newport Beach Police Station and brought in the Harbor Justice Center.  Such cases vary from DUI to domestic violence, rape and statutory rape, shoplifting to public intoxication, as well as auto burglary. 

One of Greg’s most memorable cases out of the Newport Beach / Harbor Justice Center involved a client who was part of a group of folks stealing from surfer’s cars while the car owner went surfing, but left his car keys in the car’s gas cap, or on top of a tire.  In one particular case, our client allegedly took the surfer’s wallet and then, 45 minutes later, bought a laptop computer at a Best Buy in Arcadia, many miles away (and in a different county).  While our client was caught at Best Buy, it could not be proven that our client also was the burglar of the car, so the case was dismissed.  Orange County did not have jurisdiction over the credit card fraud case in Los Angeles County.  Our client was very happy with the dismissal.