Newport swears in 25-year Police Department veteran as new chief
Jon Lewis, a 25-year veteran of the Newport Beach police force, took the reins of the department Tuesday after being sworn in as the city’s 10th police chief.
City Manager Dave Kiff announced last week that he had chosen Lewis to take over for retired Chief Jay Johnson, and the city officially promoted the former deputy chief to the top job during a ceremony at the Civic Center on Tuesday. The council chamber was packed with public officials, police and city staff members and others who watched and applauded as Lewis’ wife, Darcy, pinned the chief badge to her husband’s lapel.
Lewis, 44, who has spent his entire law enforcement career in Newport Beach, said that when he was a young recruit, he never imagined becoming chief of a 152-person police force.
The longtime Orange County resident didn’t grow up in a traditional law enforcement family. Instead, he was raised by educators who instilled the importance of the notion “service above self,” an idea that has guided him throughout his career, he said.
“It’s days like today that I’m reminded the department is more than just any one person or any one position,” he said. “This is the absolute greatest of honors.”
Lewis began working part-time at the Newport Beach Police Department in 1991 while attending Cal State Long Beach, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. Lewis also holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from Chapman University in Orange. He is an adjunct faculty member at the Golden West College Criminal Justice Training Center and a member of the steering committee of the Huntington Beach college’s Leadership and Ethics Institute.
In 1996, Lewis joined the Newport department full-time as an officer and steadily rose through the ranks, taking assignments including bike patrol, SWAT, detective, training officer and executive officer to the chief.
Lewis was promoted to deputy chief in 2014 and most recently oversaw the department’s patrol and traffic division.
He also is a member of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Commodores Club and chairman of the board for Leadership Tomorrow, a nonprofit that seeks to train new civic leaders for Orange County cities.
Lewis lives in Orange County with his wife and their daughter and son.
In remarks Tuesday, Johnson jokingly took some credit for Lewis’ success. Johnson was an officer in the Long Beach Police Department when Lewis was the president of a fraternity at Cal State Long Beach. The fraternity house happened to be in Johnson’s patrol area. Though Johnson didn’t know Lewis at the time, he said he recalls breaking up some raucous frat parties during the period when Lewis was president.
When Johnson became Newport Beach police chief years later, the two put the dates together and often laughed about the coincidence.
“I kept him out of trouble so he could pass our background check to become part of the department,” Johnson joked.
Johnson retired in December but agreed to continue leading the department until a replacement was installed.
Lewis won the top job after competing with candidates from across the country in an open call for applications. The recruitment process included written assessments and tests, followed by interviews by panels made up of other police chiefs, community members and city department heads.
The field was narrowed to two internal candidates and one from another department. The last round involved a one-on-one interview with Kiff, who made the final decision.
“We have a highly capable individual taking the helm today,” Mayor Diane Dixon said. “We grow our own in Newport Beach, and they are the best.”
