Los Alamitos Police Department

If the Los Alamitos Police Department has arrested or is investigating you, a family member or a loved one, the amount of bail associated with the offense is something you surely want to know, as well as the legal and factual requirements to reach a conviction for the crime that allegedly took place, the defenses possible and the punishment a judge can impose if one is convicted of the crime. 

Criminal cases involving arrests by the Los Alamitos Police Department are filed at the Orange County Superior Court, Westminster Branch, or, with more serious cases, at the Santa Ana Superior Court in downtown Santa Ana.

We at Greg Hill & Associates believe it is also prudent for one to know a few more things before interacting with any branch of law enforcement.  It is good to know the size of the police or sheriff’s department, the city’s demographics, the most frequent types of crime the department investigates and just a bit about the city’s history to make one’s communication with law enforcement more meaningful, more savvy and perhaps, more respectful.  This can lead to a better outcome than if one lacks such perspective.

This article is presented with this goal in mind.

Los Alamitos is a very small city within northwestern Orange County.  Its population is only, as of the 2020 U.S. Census, 11,780.  The size is only 4.07 square miles.

The city has just 25 sworn police officers, making it one of the smallest police forces in Orange County (and Los Angeles County).

Crime in Los Alamitos is lower than in California in general, particularly violent crime, which may be related to the older average age of most residents in Los Alamitos.

The 2010 United States Census reported that Los Alamitos’ racial makeup was 8,131 (71.0%) White (58.7% Non-Hispanic White), 324 (2.8%) African American, and 696 (6.1%) from two or more races.  Hispanic or Latinos of race were 2,418 persons (21.1%).

According to the 2010 United States Census, Los Alamitos had a median household income of $80,449, with 7.2% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

Just prior to and during early World War II, the area around Los Alamitos became a major center for the aircraft industry.  The Clark heirs arranged for Donald Douglas to begin construction of the Douglas Aircraft Company aircraft plant just north of the Long Beach airport.  At the same time, the Navy decided it needed an auxiliary airfield for its Reserve Training facility at the increasingly crowded Airport.  A touch and go field was built on the level ground just east of Los Alamitos in August 1940.  This was the first military post in Orange County.

In February 1941, the Navy decided to move all their reserve aviation training from Long Beach and purchased what would become a 1300-acre facility.  Trainees and cadre began using the new facilities as early as November 1941, but it was not until May 1942 that Naval Reserve Air Base (NRAB) Long Beach formally transitioned all operations to NRAB Los Alamitos.  The new base provided many jobs and spurred growth in the town.

After World War II, NRAB Los Alamitos was the busiest reserve air base in the nation for a while, especially during the Korean War, but by the late 1950’s encroaching surrounding suburban residential development began to curtail its activity. 

The Navy moved out in 1972 and in 1973, the California National Guard took over management of the base, re-designated an Armed Forces Reserve Center.  Today, it is a reserve support center for units of the Army, Navy, National Guard and Marines, but is also a home to many other government agencies, including Homeland Security, FEMA and the State of California Office of Emergency Services.

Many former military personnel chose to stay on in Los Alamitos after the war, living in such new neighborhoods as Carrier Row, where streets are named for World War II aircraft carriers, , many of which had been the home for Navy pilots trained at Los Alamitos.  Carrier Row was actually not one unit, but three small subdivisions built separately in 1947–48, 1950, and 1955 by different builders.

For more information about being arrested and possibly facing a criminal case, please click on the following articles:

Below is the Google Map to the Los Alamitos Police Department.