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questions about early days of irvine pd

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  • thoughtbuilds
    Member
    • Apr 2010
    • 231

    questions about early days of irvine pd

    I have a few questions about the Irvine police, it's beginning, and the command present at that time. My questions arise from a recent purchase. I have uniforms, some dated others not, that were worn by what I believe to be the original command of irvine pd. I have come to this conclusion in part due to the dates on the clothes (1971 and 1978) and in part due to the presence of one uniform in particular. The uniform is monogrammed L. E. P. And tagged as belonging to L. E. Peart, the first police chief for irvine.

    My questions are:

    Can anyone tell me the the rank insignias for Irvine's top command? I have a few coats to sort through

    I have read that irvine pd began in 1975. Why do I have a coat dated from 1972

    If the ranks are known would it be possible to identify the owners of the other coats simply by rank? They would be the first to hold these positions

    Has anyone ever seen or heard of anyone who had similar items? It is nearly impossible to put a value on these items.


    I will be uploading pictures of the various coats and look forward to any assistance that can be provided.

    Thanks
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  • #2
    thoughtbuilds
    Member
    • Apr 2010
    • 231









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    • #3
      RickD427
      CGN/CGSSA Contributor - Lifetime
      CGN Contributor - Lifetime
      • Jan 2007
      • 9259

      I went to work for the University Police in Irvine just after the Irvine Police Department was formed. There was a lot of mutual support because both agencies were quite small at the time.

      The initial rank structure was Police Chief, Police Manager, Police Supervisor and Police Officer. The city initially prided itself on not using the para-military rank structure. That didn't last very long. I remember being present at several calls where an angry citizen demanded to speak with the officer's sergeant, only to be told "we don't have any sergeants..." The conversation usually degraded to the point "I want to talk to the lieutenant....", followed by "we don't have any lieutenants..." These conversations always seemed to occur in the wee hours of the morning when the Chief was home asleep.

      Pretty quick, the Police Managers became Lieutenants and the Police Supervisors became Sergeants (so much for the city pride on the absence of the para-military stuff). The department grew very rapidly. I left the University PD in 1979 and shortly after that Irvine PD added the captain rank.

      The coats in your photograph look like those worn with the dress uniform. I didn't see those in daily wear at any point in the department. The daily wear coat was the black nylon "Bomber" style jacket. Once the department finally got sergeants and lieutenants, they wore the corresponding rank insignia on the jackets.

      The name L.E. Paert appearing on the label of one jacket is familiar. Leo Paert was the first chief of the Irvine P.D.
      If you build a man a fire, you'll keep him warm for the evening. If you set a man on fire, you'll keep him warm for the rest of his life.

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      • #4
        thoughtbuilds
        Member
        • Apr 2010
        • 231

        This is the history I find so interesting. For instance the coat owned by Leo preat is dated 1978 and a coat with one stripe and 3 stars is dated 1972. But who was he working for in 1972 if the department did not exist until 1975. And why are there so many ranks at such an early time period?
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        • #5
          RickD427
          CGN/CGSSA Contributor - Lifetime
          CGN Contributor - Lifetime
          • Jan 2007
          • 9259

          If I remember correctly, Leo was Chief of police in Los Banos before he came to Irvine in 1975.

          But that was a couple of years ago.............
          If you build a man a fire, you'll keep him warm for the evening. If you set a man on fire, you'll keep him warm for the rest of his life.

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          • #6
            marinelar
            Junior Member
            • Aug 2010
            • 88

            It's possible some of the earlier dated coats belonged to Costa Mesa PD officers that may have transferred to Irvine when the PD was formed. Costa Mesa used to patrol Irvine under contract before IPD was formed, hence the white patrol cars. Obviously Costa Mesa has since switched but Irvine somehow still wants to look like Nordic Security.

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            • #7
              thoughtbuilds
              Member
              • Apr 2010
              • 231

              That was my first thought as well. As I understand it the sheriff first patrolled Irvine then Costa Mesa. I was even reading as far back as the Los Angeles rangers and the police employed by the Irvine family in the days before it was a city, the only things I am fairly certain of are the suit which belonged to Mr. Preat and the origins of the coats. While I received them from an individual they were most certainly from the Irvine pd and we all sold together. It's possible some of the undated coats may come from a later time period but it seems unlikely just due to some of the similarities in the coats and their markings and tags. I've asked irvine pd and the Irvine police association for a little more clarity. I just can't believe they would so easily sell something like this. Is it possible they are not as rare or meaningful as I believe?
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              • #8
                003
                Veteran Member
                • Jul 2010
                • 3436

                Do not confuse the stars on the bottom of the sleeve with a specific rank. While the gold stripe does represent rank, the stars are an indication of service time. Each star represents 5 years of service, similar to service strips worn by many departments.

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                • #9
                  thoughtbuilds
                  Member
                  • Apr 2010
                  • 231

                  Interesting, do the stars mean years serving that department or as an officer in general? And what is the significance of the star surrounded by laurels?
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                  • #10
                    P5Ret
                    Calguns Addict
                    • Oct 2010
                    • 6349

                    Originally posted by thoughtbuilds
                    I just can't believe they would so easily sell something like this. Is it possible they are not as rare or meaningful as I believe?
                    They are more interesting history, that may or may not be traceable. The dress jacket commonly called and "Ike jacket" hasn't changed much since Eisenhower wore it in WWII. To a collector they may be worth something, more if they had original shoulder patches on them though.

                    I can't speak to how other's handle their dress or class A uniforms, but at my agency it was tradition to pass along your "Ike" jacket cap and specifically cap piece to someone who could use it when you retired or separated. They hold up very well if taken care of, and let's face it most of them hang in a locker without being used too often.

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                    • #11
                      thoughtbuilds
                      Member
                      • Apr 2010
                      • 231

                      Well, according to a representative at Irvine pd the laurels represent 20 years and the star in the center an additional 5, there is still no explanation for the 1972 coat but she did direct me to a short video narrated by Leo Peart celebrating their 40th anniversary. I guess my search will continue for more interesting history on these coats. Then I need to figure out what to do with them lol. Thank you so so much to everyone who has posted so far and I hope an interesting discussion continues. I look forward to all future posts and assistance

                      Thanks again
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