City Manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison presented Police Sgt. Clint Dieball with the City Manager Leadership Award at the monthly employee Meet and Greet on Oct. 3.

“As someone who grew up in and attended schools in Costa Mesa, Sgt. Dieball epitomizes what it means to serve your community,” Farrell Harrison said. “We are so fortunate to have someone like Clint with his vast knowledge and experience in policing as well as his exemplary leadership skills. I’m proud to present him with this award.”

Currently, Sgt. Dieball is the Community Policing Unit supervisor overseeing three officers and six park rangers. This team supports the mission of the city’s homeless outreach programs, and vigorously enforces quality of life issues in Costa Mesa.

Since the beginning of the year, Sgt. Dieball’s team of CPU officers and park rangers have taken over 1,000 enforcement actions, and have participated in countless outreach encounters with our other city team members and worked closely with the city’s Public Services team.

Dieball joined the Costa Mesa Police Department family in July, 1996 as a Patrol Officer.

Dieball is a product of Costa Mesa, having grown up here since 1978. He attended Sonora Elementary, Davis Junior Intermediate and Costa Mesa High School. He also attended Orange Coast College before transferring to the University of Southern California in 1991, and later graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Public Policy and Management.

Dieball was assigned to the South Coast Plaza Detail in 1998, where he and his team were responsible for investigating shoplifting, fraud cases, internal thefts, identity thefts, burglaries and robberies in the South Coast Plaza and South Coast Metro retail districts.

In 2000, Dieball was assigned to the Detective Bureau and worked all aspects of investigations, from property crimes to auto theft and crimes against persons; including domestic violence cases and homicide investigations.

During his time in the Detective Bureau, Dieball went back to school in 2003 and obtained his Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a minor in Public Finance, at National University in Costa Mesa.

In 2006, Dieball was promoted to Corporal and became a Field Training Officer, before his promotion to Sergeant in 2008. In 2014, as a Patrol Sergeant, he was asked and accepted an opportunity to work as the Administrative Sergeant as a collateral duty.

In 2015, Dieball became the full time Administrative Sergeant, with responsibilities including the schedule for all of Patrol, the Field Training Program, Sergeants at Arms for City Council meetings and the police facility. During this time, the police department saw the largest increase in new officers entering the Field Training Program in two decades.

City Manager Farrell Harrison also welcomed several new employees to the Costa Mesa team.

Dasni Ahangama is a new Intern working in the Development Services Department. Nicolas Johnstone is a new Lifeguard working at the Downtown Recreation Center.

In the Police Department, Geren Anders is a new police officer, Lindsey Olson is a new Crime Scene Investigation Supervisor and Lizbeth Ramirez is a new Community Services Specialist

Steven Wang is the new Assistant Engineer working in the Public Services Department.