In March 2001, voters went to the polls and chose to make Aliso Viejo the 34th city in Orange County. The city officially incorporated on July 1, 2001. Residents and community leaders gathered that day under tents and along the steps of Grand Park’s amphitheater for the inaugural City Council meeting. Aliso Viejo was cut from the original Ranchos granted to Juan Avila in 1842 by the Mexican government. The land transferred from the Moulton Family to the Mission Viejo Company who ultimately drew up plans for a 20,000 unit master-planned community named Aliso Viejo.

The master plan was designed to meet the needs of a broad range of new home buyers, but also called for a delicate balance of retail and open space, resulting in a community where people really can live, work and play in the same place. The City is approximately 7 square miles and the city population is just over 45,000 people. All residents live within 2.5 miles of the Aliso Viejo Town Center, the focal point of the City. This “downtown” provides includes over 800,000 square feet of retail shops and stores, restaurants and medical offices. The City is also home to a Jack Nicklaus designed Golf Course and Soka University, a 100-acre private, four-year liberal arts and graduate institution which opened in the Fall of 2001.

The City of Aliso Viejo is governed by a five member City Council, that has oversight of almost one billion dollars of development now underway in the north/central section of they city. This development will contain over 400,000 square feet of commercial and private office space, a 176 room Marriott Renaissance Hotel sporting a 67,000 square foot state of the art fitness and sports club. Additionally, there will be new innovative live/work residential units. The current Police Services Contract calls for one lieutenant, three sergeants, 19 patrol/traffic deputies, two investigators, one-half of an investigative assistant position, two community service officers, a crime prevention specialist, an emergency management program coordinator who is shared with the City of Rancho Santa Margarita, and the regional support services of specialized units like Homicide Investigations, the Sheriff’s Bomb Squad, and Helicopter support. 

Please visit the city website at www.cityofalisoviejo.com.

Message from the Chief of Police Services:

I was privileged to be selected as your first Police Services Chief as the result of the voters deciding to incorporate and become Orange County’s 34th City on July 1, 2001. Almost six years after incorporation, the City has grown to just over 45,000. With growth, change comes and Police Services has met that change head-on, making Aliso Viejo one of the best places in America to live, according to Parenting Magazine.

Your police department is provided on a contract basis by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. We have been responsible for all general law enforcement since 1889, one year before the 22,000 acres were ceded to the Moulton Family in 1890. Over a century later, our current levels include one lieutenant, three sergeant positions, 19 patrol/traffic deputy positions, two investigator positions, one-half of one investigative assistant position, two community services officers, one crime prevention specialist, one half of one emergency management program coordinator, and regional support services.

Other services the Sheriff’s Department offers the City is a Special Enforcement Team, a patrol based team of two deputy sheriffs assigned to the same patrol vehicle who address special patrol related problems and issues. Additionally, the City contributes a deputy to the Regional Directed Enforcement Team, an investigation based surveillance and support team tackling problems on a regional basis. The City also shares a motorcycle deputy with the City of Laguna Woods, an innovative cost sharing scheme that lowers the cost to each city yet provides much need traffic enforcement.

It’s my pleasure to reflect on the many accomplishments of the men and women of Aliso Viejo Police Services. During 2006 and now into 2007, Police Services contributed significantly to the success of the many City sponsored events by providing security and additional staff to address any situation that accompanies large group events. We partnered with the city to make the following events successful:

• 2006 Fourth of July Celebration in Grand Park
• International Walk to School Days
• Bicycle helmet distribution for needy families at the Family Resource Center
• Car Seat Safety Checks throughout the City
• Internet Safety for Families at the Don Juan Avila Middle School and Canyon Vista’s Elementary School
• Teens and Alcohol with ANHS PTSA • Founder’s Day Celebration
  

During the Spring of 2006, Police services staff worked with the Orange County Fire Authority and presented the first “Citizen’s Disaster Preparedness Academy” which was an opportunity to educate our residents with important information about emergency preparedness. We have also taken the lead in working with the City’s Emergency Management Consultant to train City staff and participate in Emergency Preparedness Drills in preparation for any “real life” emergency situations. Police Services staff provided one evening of classes in the City’s first “Leadership Academy” and transported all students to the Sheriff’s Department “Emergency Communications Bureau” at Loma Ridge for a tour of your 9-1-1 Center. Later in the Spring of 2007, we again worked with out partners at the Fire Authority and presented the second “Citizen’s Emergency Preparedness Academy.”

During 2007, four Police Services Deputy Sheriff’s and one citizen were nominated in the Category of “Medal of Courage” at the Sheriff’s Department “Annual Medal of Valor Awards Ceremony.” One deputy was awarded the Medal of Courage and the citizen was given special recognition by the awards committee. Our Crime Prevention Specialist was awarded the “Crime Prevention Practitioner” of the year for Orange County by the California Crime Prevention Officer’s Association. She was also nominated as “Practitioner of the Year” by the California Attorney General’s Office. She was also awarded the coveted Sheriff’s Department’s “Gold Star Award” and given that award personally by Sheriff Michael S. Carona in the Spring of 2007. Police Services’ Crime Prevention Specialist Margo Beauchamp also participates in the Development Review Committee and drives the incorporation of “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design” through the development process of all of the new development on Aliso Viejo Parkway and Enterprise.

We’ve worked very hard with the Capistrano Unified School District and the PTSA and participated in programs such as “Teens and Alcohol, Teens and Steroids and presented a special meeting at the high school entitled “Crisis in Communication”, with Sheriff Carona speaking at this event.

This year we will launch our “Business Watch” program, and participate in “National Night Out” this August as we celebrate Neighborhood Watch. We have over 100 communities in the City and 48 Neighborhood Watch groups!

On June 20, 2007 our City Council approved the Police Services Budget for FY 2007-08 which will continue your same level of law enforcement service for the next fiscal year. The City Council’s approval will also allow us to take an innovative step and hire a person with the City of Rancho Santa Margarita. This person will be an Emergency Management Program Coordinator hired through the Police Services Contract and will work ½ time in each city in furtherance of the growth of their emergency management program(s). The Council also approved the formation of a senior volunteer group called AV PALS (Aliso Viejo Police Assistance Liaison Services) which will assist Police Services Deputies with vacation checks of homes and Neighborhood and Business Watch program support.

With the incredible support of the Aliso Viejo City Council, our city staff partners and the residents and merchants of Aliso Viejo, on behalf of Sheriff Mike Carona, my pledge to you is that the men and women of Police Services will continue to work toward a future here in town where the quality of life is high and the future bright.

Lieutenant Rich Paddock

Orange County Sheriff’s Department

Chief of Police Services

City of Aliso Viejo

rpaddock@ocsd.org