COSTA MESA : Former Police Chief Recalls Old Times

Roger Neth, former police chief and the first police officer hired by the city, will talk about his experiences tonight at 7:30 at the Costa Mesa Historical Society.

Neth said that when he began his police career, palm trees lined both sides of a street where the Costa Mesa Freeway now runs. With the city population only about 16,000, not many crimes were being committed in 1953.

Before incorporation, there were no sidewalks or gutters on most of the streets. The town had a constable named Frank (Tiny) Vaughn, Neth said.

“They called him Tiny but he was 6 feet, 7 inches and weighed about 340 pounds,” Neth said.

Times have changed, he said.

“For no reason, we have drive-bys, people shooting on the freeways and killing innocent people in Orange County,” said Neth, who became chief in 1964.

Neth, 66, said one of the more interesting cases in his career occurred during the ‘70s and involved the use of hypnosis to solve a shooting. An unknown assailant shot at a Costa Mesa police officer patrolling in Irvine, which at the time was part of Costa Mesa’s territory.

“He was ambushed by a member of the Hessian motorcycle club who had vowed he would kill a police officer,” Neth said. “Through hypnosis, we were able to help the officer recall that the man who attacked him had a patch on his jacket and was driving a rental truck.”

The man was arrested and convicted.

Neth, who retired in 1986, said he enjoyed being part of a new police force and using new methods and equipment such as helicopters and moving picture cameras in police work.

“We pioneered use of 16-millimeter cameras for sobriety tests,” Neth said. “Our conviction record was 96% for jury trial. Later, we changed to video cameras.”

Neth lives with his wife, Jane, a former county teacher of the year, and travels around the country.

The Costa Mesa Historical Society is at 1870 Anaheim St.