At the September Meet and Greet, City CEO Tom Hatch presented the CEO Leadership Award to Lt. Joyce LaPointe in recognition of her to work dealing with the city’s quality of life challenges, including coming up with solutions in regards to homeless and transient population issues.
“What I admire about Joyce is that she is always quick to point out that what she does is part of a larger team effort,” said CEO Hatch. “I appreciate her leadership skills and value the hard work she has done throughout the years and most recently her efforts to solve our homeless challenges.”
LaPointe is a 19-year veteran of the Costa Mesa Police Department. She started her career at Costa Mesa as a police officer in 1997 and was promoted to the rank of Corporal in 2002, Sergeant in 2007 and the rank of Lieutenant in 2015, when she became the first female to hold that rank in the department’s history.
As an officer LaPointe has extensive field experience including patrol, field training, bike patrol, traffic investigation, defensive tactics instructor, and tactical flight officer. Joyce is the recipient of the Mothers against Drunk Drivers Century Award, a Life Saving Merit and recently helped with a child birth in the field.
During her eight years a sergeant, Joyce had the opportunity to manage several Patrol Teams, the Field Officers Training Program, Jail Operations and the Force Tactics Training Team.
Currently, she is the Area 1 Commander, who oversees Patrol Operations in south end of Costa Mesa. She also manages the Field Officers Training Program, the Force Tactic Training Team, Community Service Officers, Park Rangers, and Bike Detail Team.
Prior to joining Costa Mesa PD, she worked at Costa Mesa High School as the Athletic Trainer and Campus Security. A native of Mt. View California, LaPointe graduated from Southbay Christian High School in 1986 and then attended Vanguard University on an Athletic Scholarship, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Kinesiology.
In addition to LaPointe, the CEO welcomed several new members to the Costa Mesa team, including, Development Services Intern Katelyn Walsh, Parks and Community Services Recreation Leaders Victor Acosta, Fernando Barajas-Valladares, Jessie Cerda and Denzel Muldrew.
From the Police Department, Hatch welcomed new Officer Cory Montgomery and Crime Scene Specialist Brittany Godoy. Not in attendance but also recognized were Officer Nick Dempkowski and Police Aide Jeremiah Stanley.
In the way of promotions, Hatch congratulated Marian Traylor, who was promoted to Deputy City Clerk, Denise Baldacci now a Recreation Leader III, Briana Delfin And Enyelber Franco Recreation Specialists And Joseph Mendoza and Delgado Salazar – Recreation Leader II.
Hatch also thanked retiring city employees Maintenance Services Manager Bruce Hartley, Fire Protection Analyst Dave Hollister, Police Officer Matthew Olin and Senior Records Technician Teresa Peterson-Goerke.
