Les Chapman

With a 30 year career in the Newport Beach Police Department, 49 years of happy marriage, and the honor of being NBPD’s first running team captain, Les Chapman’s trademarks of dedi-cation, longevity, and quiet loyalty are confirmed. It seems like Les started running the year he was born in 1935, in Orange, California, and he is still running, jogging, and walking 73 years later.

He grew up in Costa Mesa and graduated from Newport Harbor High in 1954. He spent three years in the Army Security Agency. It monitored radio traffic behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. His time was spent in both Georgia and Germany repairing the “high tech” equipment that listened to the secret radio signals of the Soviets. When he returned to the “real world” of Costa Mesa and was visiting a high school buddy, he met his wife, Nancy. The GI Bill was ok for going to college, and driving the submarine ride at Disneyland was good for a summer job, but his fast approaching wedding to Nancy in 1959 made gainful employment a must.

One day he saw a police car driving around Newport Beach and thought to himself, “Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to be a cop.” He applied to both Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. At Newport, he was 5th on the list and seemingly never to be hired. He went to Chief Upson and told him that he needed a job because his first child was close to being born. The Chief’s response was certainly non-bureaucratic. He simply said,

“Ok, start tomorrow.” His starting pay was $398/month. The psychology test was also very informal. Les was scheduled for the test after he had started work, and it was also the same day of the birth of his daughter. The psychologist noted that Les was agitated when he walked in. When the doctor found out that Les’s wife was about to give birth, Les was sent away with no test, a slap on the back, and the doctor saying, “You pass!”

Les went to a six-week academy at the OC Sherriff’s range. It was given by the FBI at that time. He was trained by Don Oyaas (later to become Captain Oyaas) and John Burns who never said more than two words to him. Not long after Les was hired, the new Chief, Jim Glavas, took over.

New LAPD ways drove away many old-timers at Newport. Les’ law enforcement development was influenced by that new professionalism. As an officer, Les spent time in patrol, Juvenile Detectives, the F-Unit, and he was the first NBPD Accident Investigator. He also worked inside as the Traffic Investigator for the unique Lt. Bill Blue before being promoted to Sergeant in 1967. He worked patrol for three more years before he made the Administrative Sergeant position.

It was in that position that he found his nitch. He was good at getting what the officers and detectives needed–either new or repaired. He was the ‘go to guy.’ He said it still gives him pride to know that he could help his fellow officers do their jobs even better. He survived many mandatory rotations in that job because the captains in administration always seemed to be new when it came time for his own rotation. They were no dummies. They knew who they needed to make them look good.

In the 1970s, NBPD formed its first running team so that it could compete in LAPD’s Death Valley Relay. Les became the first captain of our team. Running long distance was not new to him. He had been running even before he became the department’s icon for running at lunch break while he was the Administrative Sergeant. He ran in every race until he retired in 1990, and even two years after that.

After retiring, he worked for the OC Sherriff’s Office in parking control for Mission Viejo and then he started working at Palomar Medical Center Security after he and Nancy bought a repo/fixer-upper in Fallbrook.

Thousands of hours of blood, sweat, and tears has resulted in a unique first class estate under spreading oak trees on one and a half acres. All those hours of strenuous labor and constant distance running up until 2002 probably saved his life. Recently he underwent the implantation of five stents in irregular locations right around his heart. The doctor was surprised that Les had not had a massive stroke or heart attack by that point. In fact, because of the symptoms he had been feeling, the doctor said Les would not have survived more than 30 days if he had not come in for a checkup. Les implores his fellow retirees not to ignore these symptoms: a feeling of indigestion that eventually becomes a pressure on the chest that seems to slowly move up to and slightly over the shoulders. Go see a doctor!

Les is proud of his two children and four great grandchildren. He beams when he talks about three things: 1) helping others on the department as best he could, 2) the impact on morale the running team had both inter and intra agency, and 3) his wife Nancy. His dedication and loyalty to the people on the department was best demonstrated when he said that the word he wants to be remembered for is approachable.

November 2, 2005