A Safer NewportNewport Beach Police Association

Informational fact-based public information

Where Newport builds its police headquarters matters.

A centrally located NBPD headquarters allows officers to reach every part of Newport Beach quickly. A station on the edge of town leaves neighbors and families waiting when seconds matter.

See the case Test the locations yourself

Response time

In an emergency, seconds decide outcomes.

“It is logistically advantageous to be as centrally located as possible... in the event that we do need to surge resources.”

Dave Miner, Newport Beach Police Chief. Police Headquarters Advisory Committee, July 7, 2026.

History

For generations, Newport kept its police at the center of the city.

From its earliest stations to the department that grew alongside City Hall, Newport Beach kept law enforcement near the center of the community, within fast reach of every neighborhood. That was the plan, not an accident.

Early years

A department built with the city

As Newport Beach grew, its police force grew with it, housed close to the civic center of town near the piers and the heart of Old Newport.

1948

Police at City Hall

When Newport Beach dedicated its new City Hall, with Governor Earl Warren as the principal speaker, the police department and city jail occupied a wing of the building itself. Law enforcement sat at the center of city government.

1971

The Civic Center master plan put police at the center

By Resolution No. 7351, the City Council adopted a master plan for the Civic Center site in Newport Center, designed by Welton Becket and Associates. It grouped the city's core institutions on one campus and named a Police Facilities Building among them, next to the Council Chambers, City Hall, and the Central Library.

More than five decades ago

The move to Santa Barbara Drive

The current station on Santa Barbara Drive was built more than five decades ago to serve a population roughly half its current size. Today Newport Beach police protect an estimated 7 million visitors and residents a year from that aging building.

Groundbreaking for a Newport Beach civic project — **Groundbreaking.** Building for the future of public safety.

Newport Beach City Hall dedication, 1948 — **1948.** City Hall dedication, with police housed on site.

Newport Beach Police Department vehicles and officers at the station — **The department, assembled.** A central station in its prime.

Historic Newport Beach jail — **Booking and jail.** Core operations that still tie officers to headquarters.

The 1971 Newport Beach Civic Center Revised Master Plan by Welton Becket and Associates, showing a Police building at the civic core alongside Council Chambers, General Government, and the Library — Exhibit A of the Civic Center Revised Master Plan, adopted by City Council Resolution No. 7351. A public record of the City of Newport Beach.

The city's master plan places NBPD at the Civic Center.

On January 11, 1971, the City Council adopted the Civic Center Revised Master Plan for the Newport Center site. Its written description set aside the easterly nine acres for the City's core facilities:

City Council Chambers
City Administration (General Government) Building
Police Facilities Building
Central (Main) Library

A centrally located police headquarters at the Civic Center is not a new idea. It is the plan Newport Beach set for itself more than fifty years ago.

The case for a central location

A station on the edge of town leaves neighborhoods waiting.

Officers patrol from their beats, but they are pulled back to headquarters constantly: to book an arrest, log evidence, write a required collision report, take a walk-in report, or take a meal on a 12-hour shift. Every one of those trips is time off the street. The farther the building sits from the center of the city, the longer each trip takes, and the longer a neighborhood goes uncovered.

When a real incident hits, a central station can surge resources in minutes. An edge-of-town station cannot.

Newport Beach City Council members during a public meeting — Where the next headquarters goes is a decision for the City. The response-time maps below show what that choice means for every neighborhood.

Dove Street site, at the edge

Response-time map with headquarters at the Dove Street site, most of Newport Beach shaded red

Put headquarters at the Dove Street edge and the response-time map fills with red. Whole areas of the city fall outside a fast response.

Civic Center site, central

Response-time map with headquarters at the Civic Center, a large green core across Newport Beach

Keep headquarters at the Civic Center and coverage turns green. More of the city is reachable fast, and resources can surge where they are needed.

Actual output from the interactive simulator, routed on real Newport Beach roads with current time-of-day traffic. Tap either map to enlarge.

Do not take our word for it. Test the locations yourself on the interactive simulator, built on real Newport Beach roads and the City's public calls-for-service data.

See it for yourself. Open the interactive simulator.

Built on real Newport Beach roads and the City's public calls-for-service data. Place the headquarters anywhere and watch response times change across every neighborhood.

Open the simulator

In their own words

A former council member says location doesn’t matter. Law enforcement disagrees.

Keith Curry, former Newport Beach City Councilmember

The claim

Keith CurryFormer City Councilmember

“In more than 50 years, the police station has been in a different location than City Hall. There was no compelling reason that it ought to be co-located. Officers respond from their beats, not from the station. The location played no role whatsoever in the response to, or the prevention of, those crimes. There is no reason to justify an additional $50 million to build them there.”

Police Headquarters Advisory Committee, July 7, 2026 (about 24:00).

The chief’s answer

Dave MinerNewport Beach Police Chief

“It is logistically advantageous to be as centrally located as possible, in the event that we do need to surge resources, or to cut down travel time back and forth to the station headquarters.”

Police Headquarters Advisory Committee, July 7, 2026 (about 31:16).

A real example: Fashion Island

“Take the events that occurred at Fashion Island. We had an amazing amount of resources in the Fashion Island area to help investigate and apprehend suspects within a very short period of time, because we were located right next to where the crime occurred.”

Chief Dave Miner, Police Headquarters Advisory Committee, July 7, 2026 (about 30:24).

He is describing a real afternoon. See what happened at Fashion Island, and how the department responded.

Quotes are transcribed from the July 7, 2026 Police Headquarters Advisory Committee meeting and should be confirmed against the City’s official recording before republication. Presented for public information.

A closer look

What happened at Fashion Island.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 2, 2024, a robbery at Fashion Island turned deadly. Patricia McKay, 68, was visiting Newport Beach from New Zealand with her husband when two men tried to rob them outside the Barnes & Noble. As the robbers fled, their car struck and killed her. During the attempt, one of the men fired a handgun three times; no one was hit by gunfire.

What happened next is the moment Chief Miner returns to. Because the department works right beside Newport Center, officers reached Fashion Island quickly, and a sergeant pursued the suspects’ car with a police helicopter overhead. The chase ran out of the city and across county lines. All three suspects, Leroyernest McCrary, Jaden Cunningham, and Malachi Darnell, were arrested and charged with murder.

Proximity did not undo the tragedy. It did let Newport Beach put officers on the scene and suspects in custody fast. A headquarters near the center of the city keeps that kind of response within reach of every neighborhood, not only Newport Center.

Schematic of Newport Center, not to scale. The department sits beside Fashion Island; the pursuit ran out of the city and ended in arrests across county lines.

About 3:35 p.m.

Two men attempt to rob Patricia McKay and her husband outside Barnes & Noble at Fashion Island. A handgun is fired three times.

Moments later

As the robbers flee, their Toyota Camry strikes Mrs. McKay in the parking area. She does not survive.

Minutes later

Newport Beach officers, working next to Newport Center, reach the scene. A sergeant begins pursuing the suspects’ car with a helicopter overhead.

That day

The pursuit crosses into Los Angeles County. All three suspects are located and taken into custody, and are later charged with murder.

Patricia McKay was 68 and visiting family. Her case is recounted here because the location of police response has become part of a public debate, and this incident has been cited in it. It is presented with respect for her and her family.

Fashion Island keeps drawing bigger crowds and higher-profile tenants, with recent additions including Ralph Lauren, RH, and L’AGENCE. As the destination grows, the value of officers who can reach it fast only rises.

News coverage

KTLA ABC7: charges filed ABC7: officers testify NBC Los Angeles Los Angeles Magazine

Account compiled from public news reports and police statements. Details may be updated as the court process continues. Presented for public information.

Interactive tools

Test the locations. Watch what happens.

Two tools built on real Newport Beach roads and the City's public calls-for-service data. Put the headquarters anywhere and see how it changes response times and officer patrol time.

Headquarters simulator

Response Time Map

Pick a site, the current Santa Barbara Drive station, a central site, or anywhere you tap on the map, and watch citywide emergency response times redraw across every neighborhood in real time-of-day traffic.

Open the map simulator

Patrol shift simulator

A Day on Watch

Follow one officer through a full shift and see how much of the day is spent driving to and from headquarters versus on patrol, and how a central station hands time back to the street.

Open the patrol simulator

The remodel question

Remodeling Santa Barbara Drive does not fix the problem.

The Newport Beach Police Association has been clear that the aging Santa Barbara Drive station cannot simply be patched. In its June 16, 2026 statement, NBPA President Joe DeJulio called the current facility woefully inadequate for the modern demands of law enforcement.

Raw sewage backups

Backups inside the offices where officers work.

A near-miss electrical fire

Failing systems in a building made for a different era.

Unreliable IT infrastructure

Technology a modern department cannot depend on.

The remodel trap: 6 to 10 years of a displaced department

Remodeling the current site does not start fast and does not finish fast, and the department is displaced the entire time.

3 to 4 years to begin

3 to 4 years to build

2 years of delays

6 to 10 years of a dangerous, multi-year displaced, temporarily unhoused police department, plus the delays and unpredictable construction that come with reworking an occupied site.

Remodeling, reconstructing, or reusing the current site is not an option that the NBPA supports. Police operations are a critical 24/7 system that cannot be simply moved or temporarily relocated without significant costs, delayed response times, and threats to public safety.

Joe DeJulio, NBPA President. June 16, 2026 statement.

The NBPA supports the City Council's process, and the Police Headquarters Advisory Committee, in reviewing all reasonable, safe, and viable options to deliver a headquarters that meets modern demands, ensures a centrally located base of operations, and respects taxpayer dollars.

The current Newport Beach Police Department headquarters at 870 Santa Barbara Drive — The current Newport Beach Police headquarters at 870 Santa Barbara Drive, built more than five decades ago. Reworking an occupied station means years of a displaced department.

Learn it for yourself. Compare the sites on the live map.

The simulator routes on real Newport Beach roads and pulls the City’s public calls-for-service data. Put the headquarters at Santa Barbara Drive, the Civic Center, or anywhere you choose.

Open the simulator

Calls for service

Calls come from across the city.

Priority calls, including assaults, robberies, thefts, disturbances, and traffic collisions, happen where people gather, all across Newport Beach. The closer officers can be positioned to respond and to surge resources, the faster those calls are cleared and suspects are caught.

The simulator pulls the City's live calls-for-service data and lays it directly on the response-time map, so you can see where fast response matters most.

See this week's calls on the map

Put the station where it protects the most people.

A modern headquarters is a once-in-a-generation decision. Get the location right, and Newport Beach is safer for the next fifty years.

Try the simulator Newport Beach Police Association

Questions? newportbeachpa.org (949) 644-3681