Costa Mesa’s Fourth quiet in comparison

Costa Mesa remained quiet on Sunday relative to its southern neighbor, with just 25 July Fourth arrests compared with 103 in Newport Beach.

The Costa Mesa Police Department responded to 118 calls for service — mostly related to fireworks — and had 25 arrests. Seven of the arrests were for suspected DUIs and five were for suspected public intoxication, police said.

The other arrests were “nickel-and-dime” calls, some relating to marijuana, domestic violence and a customer who did not pay his restaurant bill, said Sgt. Phil Myers.

The activity was about normal, if not slightly quieter, for Costa Mesa, which does not attract the same kind of activity as the beach communities, Myers said.

There were around 10 police officers on duty at any given time in the day, which is standard staffing and sufficient for the level of activity the department expected, Myers said.

However, in Newport Beach there were more than 246 police officers busy on Sunday as people from all over Orange County crowded onto the Balboa Peninsula for holiday parties.

The Newport Police Department responded to 882 calls for service and made 103 arrests, the Daily Pilot reported Monday.

Every available officer in the department worked as well as additional officers from the California Highway Patrol, the Orange County Sheriffs Department and nearby law enforcement agencies.