Costa Mesa police launch new website to find cadets

With police officer retention rates lagging for many cities in Southern California, Costa Mesa’s police recruiting is changing with the times and going online in a new push to attract eager cadets, officials said Wednesday.

Costa Mesa’s new police department website is online after six months of planning and design, said Sgt. Bryan Glass, the department’s spokesman.

“This is still going to be a huge recruiting tool. To get information out there, to get interest, and hopefully get applicants for the openings that we have,” Glass said. The site tries to answer any question a potential recruit could have, from salary and benefits, to testing dates.

Citizens can also find out which officer is responsible for their area of the city. Costa Mesa police refocused their command structure in January, structuring incident follow-ups by location rather than by when it happened. Now, each half of the city is designated to one senior officer, whose contact information is on the site.

Officials want the site to be a one-stop place for residents to find any public service numbers they need. The website address is www.CostaMesaPD.org.

— Joseph Serna