Arrested In Newport Beach: Police Department Wins Fans On Social Media

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — The Newport Beach Police Department's social media team is arresting the public with irreverent, fun and funny arrest reports. Rather than your average dry and humdrum arrest report, the Newport Beach Police Department information officers love to weave a good albeit cautionary tale.

In their "Arrested by Newport Beach Police Department" Facebook updates, the information officers serve to educate and enlighten the community on how the police department continues to work for them.

"We are incredibly happy to have such a great platform to talk to our community and to be a part of their day-to-day lives," NBPD Public Information Officer Jennifer Manzella said.

"It all started kind of by accident, with a straight-laced story about a good arrest, and it received positive comments. Then, a string of good and shareable arrests occurred, and we shared those, too."

As time went on, the arrest reports took on a life of their own.

"The stories became more playful, and we have a pretty amazing rapport going on with our readers," she said. "Normally people only come to the police when something has gone wrong in their lives, but now we have people coming to us as part of their daily routine in an enjoyable way."

The officers get to share what they are doing to make the city a safer place to live, and the community gets to see how that happens, along with a bit of irreverent humor for good measure.

"It makes us so glad to read that people look forward to our posts or that something we posted on our page made their day," Manzella said.

Most recently, the NBPD posted a detailed description of an arrest that started with a resident's tip. Drivers in the area near Coast Highway and Newport Boulevard were seen disregarding the “right turn only” lane and just zooming straight through the intersection willy-nilly. Those are NBPD's words to describe the illegal activity. And it just gets better from there.

As for the residents of Newport Beach? Their comments on Facebook show how much they enjoy both the stories and the heart behind covering them. And if you have a question, regarding a procedure and each arrest's specifics, don't hesitate to ask. The chatty PIOs at Newport Beach Police Department won't hesitate to answer.

Such as one reader who asked how the officer was able to look inside a suspect's purse.

"We don't go into specifics for each case, but let us give you a few hypotheticals that could apply to these stories. Some folks are on probation with 'search and seizure' terms, meaning that they have to let officers search them and their property," NBPD said. "Other times, we can show probable cause to believe that the person is engaging in illegal activity. Sometimes, we find things because we are going to impound a car, and we have to do an inventory of it. And, other times, people are just clumsy and flash the drugs or paraphernalia while they're digging through their own property."

All in all, it's a good day's work for the department and a loyal fan following of Newport Beach residents whom they serve.

Find your Newport Beach Police Department on Facebook.

Newport Beach Police Department Photo