New deputy chief took path from within Newport’s department
Lt. Jeff Brouwer, a 17-year veteran of the Newport Beach Police Department, will be promoted next month to deputy chief.
Police Chief Jon Lewis announced during Tuesday’s Wake Up Newport meeting, hosted by the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, that he had selected Brouwer to take over for former Deputy Chief David McGill. McGill, who most recently oversaw the department’s detectives division, started his new job this week as chief of the Sedona Police Department in Arizona.
Newport Beach has two deputy chiefs who report to the chief of police. Deputy Chief Dennis Birch was promoted to oversee the patrol and traffic division in May 2016 after Lewis was selected to become chief. Brouwer will head up the department’s detective division, including overseeing the budget, training and overall management.
“Jeff Brouwer is a highly experienced and capable law enforcement executive who I am proud to promote to the rank of deputy chief,” Lewis said. “Jeff’s knowledge, longstanding community ties, and leadership skills will be an excellent complement to our detective division, and to our department as a whole.”
Brouwer, 55, started his career in law enforcement with the Los Angeles Police Department in 1996 where he worked as a patrol officer and gang unit investigator. In 2000, Brouwer joined the Newport Beach department as an patrol officer and steadily rose through the ranks. He worked as a motorcycle officer, a recruitment officer, a background investigator, a polygraph examiner and a personnel and training sergeant.
When Brouwer was promoted to lieutenant, he was a patrol watch commander and a detective lieutenant. His current role is executive officer in the Office of the Chief of Police, where he oversees community relations, crime prevention, press information, professional standards, the department’s volunteer program and the citizens and teen police academy.
“It’s both humbling and a huge honor to get this position,” Brouwer said. “When you’re fortunate enough to get a position like this it’s not something you take for granted. I think we have a great group of super motivated people and there’s a lot of good things ahead for the Newport Beach Police Department under Chief Lewis’ direction.”
Brouwer holds a bachelor’s of science degree in occupational studies from Cal State Long Beach and a master’s in business administration from Trident University. He also graduated from the Supervisory Leadership Institute and the FBI National Academy.
Brouwer lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Robin, and has two grown children, Amber, an ultrasound technician at UCLA Medical Center, and Justin, an officer with the Irvine Police Department.
Brouwer said he was motivated to make the transition from LAPD, where the focus is on more violent crime, to Newport Beach, where quality-of-life issues often take center stage, after several of his colleagues spoke highly of the culture and personnel in the department.
“To be able to work in a city like Newport Beach where the community has high expectations it makes it fun and it makes coming to work not a chore,” he said. “It’s actually exciting to come up with creative ways to address problems that affect the community.”
Brouwer will officially be installed during a promotion ceremony Feb. 6.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
