26-year veteran of the Costa Mesa police, Joyce LaPointe, becomes department’s second in command
Joyce LaPointe was a sergeant with the Costa Mesa Police Department about eight years ago when she heard a call on her radio about a baby being born at an Arco station near Harbor Boulevard and Gisler Avenue. She was just down the street, making her the closest emergency responder.
The newborn’s father frantically hopped out of their car when the officer pulled up and said “my wife is giving birth, please help!†she told the Daily Pilot during an interview Thursday.
They kept a line open with paramedics who guided the officer as she reclined the mother’s seat and helped her prop her legs onto their dashboard. Together, they did what they could to stall for more help to arrive.
“I could tell that [the father] was a little bit nervous, as he should be,†LaPointe said. “I was like ‘OK, Dad, here’s what we gotta do,’ and he kinda turned pale ... so I’m like, ‘OK, I guess this is gonna be all me.’â€
The baby was midway through birth when an ambulance arrived. Paramedics took over for LaPointe, and the mother successfully delivered her child.
Today, Katelyn is a healthy, intelligent middle-schooler. She and the officer get together each year on her birthday to have lunch at the In & Out in the same lot where she was born.
“There’s a lot of times in our job when we have to deal with sadness, a death or just something that’s not the best day for somebody,†LaPointe said. “So, to have the opportunity to be there on someone’s most favorite day ... is amazing. It’s just so neat to be a part of their family.â€
LaPointe said building connections with the people she serves is what she has loved most about being a police officer in Costa Mesa for the past 26 years. During that time she has worked DUI patrols, learned how to fly a helicopter and supported many rookie officers during the early parts of their careers.
Over time, her focus on the needs of her community and demonstrated ability to act calmly and decisively in challenging situations helped her rise through the ranks.
She became CMPD’s first female lieutenant in 2017 and then a captain in 2020. And during a private badge-pinning ceremony with Chief Ron Lawrence on Sunday, April 9, she was promoted to deputy chief, making her the department’s second in command.
“I know she has what it takes to be a deputy chief and, someday, a chief herself,†Lawrence said during a brief interview Friday. “In fact, she’s already had to manage critical situations when I’ve been away or at training.â€
He described her as a cool, collected and thoughtful person with deep roots in Costa Mesa. She’s instrumental in running the day to day business of the department, and has even had to manage a SWAT team in response to an armed barricaded suspect at times when he was out of town on other business.
But she never actually planned on becoming a cop. Growing up in Sunnyvale, just west of San Jose, she had been inspired by Nancy Heath, her high school volleyball and basketball coach, and Nancy’s husband, Brian, to become an athletic trainer. They were graduates of Southern California College, now known as Vanguard University, which is where LaPointe decided to pursue her education in the ’80s. The campus is located next door to Costa Mesa’s City Hall and police station.
“She was tough, man,†she said of her former coach. “People were yelling and screaming at me while I’m doing push-ups in the [police] academy, and she prepared me for that really early on. How I got to Costa Mesa is because of those two.â€
LaPointe graduated in 1991 and went on to serve as athletic director at Costa Mesa High School for several years. She had planned on going back to college for a graduate degree and wanted to become a physical therapist. But she happened to build connections with the police department while working at the school, and it wasn’t long before those friends started trying to pique her interest in joining them.
“After a few ride-alongs, I realized that being a police officer wasn’t just being law enforcement; it was building relationships with the community,†LaPointe said. “It was being a counselor, a mentor, being that person on someone’s really bad day, making it just a little bit better. You can’t be the fixer of all, but you’re there to keep them calm.
“The next thing you know I’m running around the police academy, doing push-ups and getting yelled at,†she added with a chuckle.
Her time at CMPD hasn’t been without its challenges. LaPointe was the jail sergeant after the recession hit around 2008, when the department made the decision to let go of her staff and hire an outside company to cut down on costs. To ensure a successful transition, she had to ask the team she had grown close with to “help, basically, train their replacements,†she said.
“There were a lot of times when there was some crying in my office, myself included,†she said. “Because it’s not easy to have a career and have it changed in a different direction. There were a lot of conversations with all of the employees on the why.â€
LaPointe said her outgoing staff managed to put the good of their community ahead of their personal feelings and made sure the people stepping in for them were as well prepared for their task as they could be. She said she’s proud of how they responded during such a difficult time.
“I think it’s all in the manner and the message, and how you do it and how you say it, and how you’re there for them and still there for today,†LaPointe said. “And it’s fantastic now, because as the deputy chief I get to rehire a lot of these people because we’re back to hiring for our own jail again. So I’ve been able to see the full cycle.â€
Another one of her early priorities as the department’s recently promoted second in command is to fill vacancies in their upper ranks. She hopes to see more officers rank up and gain the kind of experience she did to ensure that CMPD continues to have strong leaders at the helm well after her tenure has ended.
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