MILLENNIUM MOMENT

Lavonne Campbell was a Newport Beach police detective who specialized

in juvenile cases and for many years worked as the department’s Drug

Abuse Resistance Education officer. She was married to former police

chief, Arb Campbell.

Over a decades-long career, she won dozens of awards and praise for

her work with child abuse and sexual assault cases. Under her leadership,

the department was recognized for its sensitivity by the Orange County

Sexual Assault Network.

“Working with the child abuse, child neglect cases [you] have moments

of real despair,” she once said. “With DARE, I get the chance to really

have an impact on children and form foundations of good skills.”

In 1985, she was selected as the Police Officer of the Year by her

colleagues. She left the force earlier this decade.

MILLENNIUM MOMENT celebrates the people who made a major contribution to

the Newport-Mesa community this year.