Inside CMPD

• Chief's Message

• Administration
  • Press Information Officer
  • Crime Prevention
  • Animal Control

• Field Operations
  • Area 1
  • Area 2

• Support Services
  • Traffic Safety Bureau
  • Detective Bureau
  • Helicopter Bureau

• Technical Services
  
  • Jail
  • Property & Evidence 
  • Records Bureau
  • Training & Recruitment

Administration

The Administration Division is responsible for the department's overall direction and planning with input from other divisions; provides advice to the city manager and City Council on public safety issues; manages the department budget and financial planning; oversees the department's Volunteer Program and Citizens' Academy through the Crime Prevention Unit; supervises Costa Mesa Animal Control; coordinates press information distribution to the local media; and provides internal investigation services through the Professional Standards Unit.

Chief of Police - Christopher Shawkey

Christopher Shawkey has been with the Costa Mesa Police Department since December 2006.  Prior to that, he had over 26 years of law enforcement experience with the Phoenix Police Department in Arizona.  During his career in Phoenix, Chief Shawkey worked a variety of assignments including: Patrol, Downtown Operations, Planning and Research, Professional Standards, Patrol Administration, Chief’s Office/City Manager Liaison, Tactical Response, and the Airport Bureau.

As a precinct commander in Phoenix, he was responsible for the delivery of police services to a diverse community of over 300,000 residents in a 140 square mile area with a staff of more than 230 officers and professional employees.

Chief Shawkey is a native of upstate New York where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the State University of New York at Brockport.  He earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Arizona State University, and he is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy: an 11-week training program for executive-level law enforcement officials from around the world.

Chief Shawkey is a member of several professional organizations, including the Police Executive Research Forum and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.