Building the foundation

Roger Neth

My family moved to Costa Mesa in 1936. At that time, Costa Mesa

boasted a population of less than 2,000 people, which included Santa

Ana Heights.

The Eastside was a mix of residential and orange groves while the

area north and west of Newport Boulevard was thinly scattered with

homes amid tomato and lima bean fields. The business community was

clustered around the intersection of Newport and Harbor boulevards.

Newport Boulevard was a two-way, three-lane highway. Local streets

had no curbs or gutters and Broadway was the only improved street,

paved with concrete from Newport Boulevard to Santa Ana Avenue.

Entertainment for the youngsters was limited to reading the comic

books at Pink’s Drug Store and playing kick the can and king of the

hill after school. Radio programs such as “Jack Armstrong,” “I Love a

Mystery,” “One Man’s Family” and “Shafter Parker” were the evening

programs shared by the entire family. In later years, the Palm

drive-in at 19th and Newport Boulevard was the gathering spot for the

high school kids. This site later became the location of Mesa

Theater.

During World War II, the Santa Ana Army Air Base was in the area

roughly covered in the perimeter of Newport Boulevard, Baker Street,

Harbor Boulevard and Bristol Street. This brought the military

influence very close to home. Many of the cadets stationed at the

base returned after the war to make Costa Mesa their home, to raise

their families and become an integral part of our community.

The official law enforcement for all the unincorporated areas of

the county at that time was the Orange County Sheriff’s office.

However Newport Township Constable Frank “Tiny” Vaughn assumed the

routine police activities and Judge Ronald Dodge handed out firm but

fair justice through the local justice court.

I attended Main School at 19th Street and Newport Boulevard and

Newport Harbor High School, graduating in June 1944. After a stint in

the U.S. Navy, I attended Santa Ana Justice College graduating in

1949. In 1950, I joined the Newport Beach Police Department, and with

the incorporation of the Costa Mesa in 1953, was fortunate to be one

of the first three officers to be hired for the city’s new police

department. Art Mackenzie was hired as the city’s first Chief of

Police and laid the foundation for the new department. He stressed

professionalism, innovation, training and education. Those of us who

followed built upon those principles.

In the early years of the department, we were blessed with

personnel who shared that commitment and that dedication that has

continued throughout the 50 years of the department’s history. In the

early years we could not blame our failures on our predecessors as

there were none. Credit for success was ours as we created it.

Building a police department from scratch is a major challenge and

our success would not have been possible without the commitment and

dedication of all the people past and present that make up the Costa

Mesa Police Department. My 33 years on the department, 22 years as

chief, were made a lot easier by the efforts of all of our people. It

is truly an honor and a privilege to have served with them and will

be cherished all of my life.

Happy 50th anniversary, Costa Mesa!