Spiffy New Digs a Sea Change for Harbor Patrol

Gone are the index cards they once used to track cases. Ditto to the long summer days baking in the stifling old building, not to mention the winter evenings when the stiff wind off the harbor would always seem to creep through the thin walls.

What remains of the old Orange County Harbor Patrol headquarters, though, is what everyone agrees had always been its best feature: the view.

On Thursday, along the picturesque bank of Newport Harbor with yachts and elegant sailboats bobbing in the distance, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department dedicated its new $3-million headquarters for the deputies who patrol the county’s three harbors and its 42 miles of coastline.

Although the Harbor Patrol deputies moved into the two-story, copper-roofed facility a full nine months ago, Sheriff Michael S. Carona beamed with some pride at a morning ceremony.

“It’s not just the building, it’s the people,” he told those gathered.

For the deputies who work out of the facility, though, it’s the new building. The 7,200-square-foot structure comes with computers, a “war room” where law enforcement officers can gather for briefings and in times of emergency, a wood-heavy design befitting those who work on the waterfront and--appreciated by all throughout the ranks--insulation.

The new headquarters replaces a 40-year-old relic that was so loathed that deputies cheered when the wind-worn building was knocked down in April 1998. Even the trailers that deputies moved into while awaiting the new structure seemed a trade up.

“It had a cracked foundation. It needed a lot of tender loving care. We had periodic problems with the sewer lines. Just about everything in that building showed its age from time to time,” recalled Sgt. Paul Falk.

“There was no air-conditioning at all. The sun beating on the brick all day long cooked it up pretty good and never cooled off,” Falk said. “The only thing going for it was the view.” The old facility was without insulation and most other modern conveniences, including up-to-date computer programs. For years, watch commanders jotted down incoming calls, time-stamped them and put them in slots for deputies to investigate. Now, deputies have a computer-assisted dispatch system and a state-of-the-art radio room, not to mention ceiling-high windows, a fresh kitchen and natural wood doors and trim.

The Harbor Patrol is charged with monitoring harbors in Newport Beach, Dana Point and Huntington Beach, and helping the U.S. Coast Guard patrol off the county.

Forty-seven deputies and ranking officers work out of the Newport Harbor headquarters.