The City of Irvine, which was incorporated in 1971, is a community that boasts state-of-the-art transportation programs and systems as well as a strong business environment.  It’s a great place to get an education, too.  Irvine was designed by mastermind planners, who continue striving to maintain and foster a quality environment for city’s future.

The Irvine Police Department is professional and they view community oriented policing as a way of life.  Recently, in 2003, the Irvine Police Department implemented something they call ‘geographic policing’ in an effort to solidify the bond that has developed between their officers and the public.

“Geo-Policing” fosters a small town feeling by pairing neighborhood officers up with individual communities so that they gain real insights as to what is going on in these neighborhoods and thus help locals problem solve.  Resources from both the department and the public are maximized via Neighborhood Enhancement Teams.

First, Irvine was divided into three geographic areas: “Portola,” “University” and “Crossroads.” The Portola area lies east of Jeffrey Road and north of the I5 Freeway. Crossroads, in the general center of the city, encompasses Woodbridge, Westpark, Deerfield, The Ranch, The Colony, College Park, Irvine Groves, Harvard Square, Heritage Park, Greentree, The Willows, and California Homes.

The University area is south of the I405 Freeway and west of the San Joaquin Creek.

Each of these areas has a commander that is responsible for conducting police services there. For example, Crossroads employs 35 sworn police officers and 4 civilian staff members, including supervisors, patrol officers, traffic officers, detectives, community service officers, school resource officers and crime prevention officers.

This method of policing allows for patrol officers, investigators and traffic officers to be assigned to the same geographic area for a “one year” time period as well.

IRVINE PD BUREAUS & DIVISIONS

The Irvine Police also have many different bureaus and services in place for their three communities.  There’s the Communications Bureau, which is the primary answering point for all 9-1-1 emergency calls.  It accepts and screens an average of 2500 9-1-1 calls per month, along with 14,600 business and administrative calls.

The Communications Bureau operates with state-of-the-art equipment, including a computer aided dispatch system, GPS automatic vehicle location system, intelligent phone workstations and an 800 MHz trunked radio system. The center is also equipped with a video wall that gives dispatchers the ability to view live video from a closed circuit TV system, as well as from nearly 130 traffic intersection cameras located throughout the city.

The Crime Analysis Unit provides information relative to crime patterns and trends that assist the operational and administrative personnel in the deployment of resources for the prevention and suppression of criminal activities as well as aiding in the investigative process.

Tactical units, investigations, planning and research, crime prevention, and administrative services are all part of this unit. They also track “preventable crimes” that are deterred by a marked police car patrolling the city. The crimes and associated arrests tracked by the CAU are: Robbery, Burglary (Residential, Commercial, Vehicle), Thefts from Vehicles, Commercial Grand Thefts, Auto Theft, Auto Recoveries, Weapons and Narcotics Violations, Possession of Burglary Tools, Receiving Stolen Property, Sex Crimes, and Vandalism.

Very much related to the Crime Analysis Unit is the Crime Prevention Bureau. They take a proactive approach to prevent crime by offering a variety of free services to the community.

Then there’s the Emergency Management Unit which, as its name implies, is the department that deals with disasters, from earthquakes to fires -- even epidemic outbreaks.

The IPD Investigative Team is made up of detectives who investigate crimes against persons, burglary, fraud, identity theft, narcotics violations, juvenile offenses, and more. All of their detectives are also assigned to a geo-policing district, which allows them to become familiar with crime trends specific to their particular district.

The Irvine Police Department recently added its latest tool in emergency preparedness to its already cutting edge arsenal: The “Mobile Comm”.  This is a 45-foot communications vehicle that integrates voice, data, and video communications at the scene of any event going on in Irvine.

In addition to the 4.9 Ghz antenna that transmits and receives data and video, the Mobile Comm also has  three slide-out rooms, six Personal Computer workstations with two full dispatch consoles, eight VoIP phones and multiple monitors, printers and radio systems. It is the most advanced technological Emergency Communications Vehicle in all of Orange County.

But wait -- there’s more!  The IPD also has an Operations Support Division that reports to the Deputy Chief of Police. This Division is divided into two Operations Support Bureaus.

The Special Events Bureau which oversees Special Events, the Field Training Program, the Explorer Program, the Chaplain Program and the Canine Program. The Support Bureau oversees Emergency Management, Commercial Enforcement, Crossing Guards, Parking Enforcement, DARE, the Police Reserve Officer Program, and centralized Traffic Accident Investigation.

No police department is complete without it’s men on the line, or Patrol.  Irvine’s finest patrol 70 square miles and serve over 209,806 persons. Patrol officers get a wide variety of assignments, some of which include Field training officers, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), Bike patrol, Canine Officers, School Resource Officers and so on.