Steve Arganbright

Steve was born in Santa Monica on Dec 29, 1945. He moved to La Cresenta when he was 5 years old. He attended the Culter Academy, a Private Christian School. After graduation he attended Glendale College for two years. He joined the Air Force in 1966 and spent 4 years as an Air Traffic Controller. Steve’s father and grandfather owned a Masonry business so it was natural for Steve to go into construction.

In 1972 Steve moved to Park Newport and watched as the new Police building was being built. His first contact with Newport Beach Police was when he met Myles Elsing at a car show in H.B. He said they hit it off right away and became good friends. Steve said he read an article in the paper about a reserve getting killed by a regular officer when his shotgun accidently discharged. He doesn’t know why, but it triggered a desire to become involved with the PD. Myles told him about the Reserve Program and he applied at Newport. He was hired in 1982. George Stavropoulos helped him prepare for the OCSD Reserve Academy. One day Steve went into the Bank of Newport in Corona del Mar and met Cathy who was a bank teller; and after a year of dating they were married. Steve was the first reserve to join SWAT. Joe Lambert told him no way they would take a reserve on SWAT, but he tried anyway and was accepted–quite an accomplishment back then. He served on SWAT for 10 years. Steve also worked bike patrol and regular patrol assignments. In 1992 Steve closed his construction business and went full time as a reserve. He wanted more hours so he asked Mary Carson if he could work dispatch, and was accepted right away. In 1993 Fred Heinecke talked him into going full time so he could have benefits and work more hours. In 1996 he followed his dream and bought a ranch in Redding CA. His wife and kids moved to the ranch and Steve commuted to Newport for the next several years. Steve retired in 2003 and is working full time on his ranch. Interview by Stan Bressler