Balboa ‘mayor’ retires

Deepa Bharath

He’s not just a familiar face on the peninsula.

Officer Bob Stephens is Mr. Balboa.

He’s there when the children at Newport Elementary get out of

school. He stops for a cups of coffee at little beachside cafes and

diners.

He pops into a neighbor’s yard to play with his dog. He chats up

bartenders. He greets the surfers. He makes house calls on sick

neighbors.

For years, this officer has owned the beach beat.

He has pounded the sand and sidewalks from Newport Pier to 42nd

Street, handling a range of calls from less serious loud parties and

disturbances to far more serious rapes and robberies.

On Thursday, on his 50th birthday, the cop walked his favorite

beat one last time. Stephens will officially retire today after

serving the city for more than 30 years.

He was given a fond farewell by members of the community and his

colleagues during a breakfast at Ruby’s Diner on the Balboa Pier on

Thursday.

“I’m going to miss it,” Stephens said. “It’s hard to suddenly stop

doing what you’ve been doing for 30 years.”

He started off as a cadet in the Newport Beach Police Department

in 1972. Three years later, the department hired him as a police

officer. He performed a variety of duties within the department, but

he always returned to what he loved to do the most -- foot patrol on

the peninsula.

Stephens is an outstanding example of how community policing

should work, Newport Beach Police Chief Bob McDonell said.

“He has an ownership of his beat, and that’s the way it should

be,” he said. “He has this connection with the community. That’s how

you get beneath the symptoms and get to solve the problems.”

Stephens’ ability to feel the heartbeat of the community is the

reason for his success, McDonell said.

“It’s enhanced his ability to get information and helped him to do

some exceptional police work,” he said.

Stephens sets a great example for the younger officers in the

department, Lt. Tom Gazsi said. Stephens was Gazsi’s advisor in the

city’s Explorer Scouts program.

“His whole career is an exceptional example for the department in

terms of integrity and enthusiasm,” he said.

Community members, who fondly call the officer “the Mayor of

Balboa,” said they will miss seeing him walking the beat.

“He’s a very compassionate man,” longtime resident Barbara

Thompson said. “He really cares about us, the people.”

Ron Miracle said he met Stephens 17 years ago.

“He actually saved my son,” Miracle said. “My son was a lifeguard

then, and he was near a place where this fishing boat knocked a few

people into the water and sailed away. The people there were angry

and tried to take it out on my son, but fortunately, Officer Stephens

came to his rescue.”

Robert Foster said he has been amazed at the way Stephens

interacted with children.

“He’s a very special person,” he said.

Foster said he’d even seen Stephens “face off” with Dennis Rodman,

the former NBA superstar and West Newport’s notorious party host.

“Everybody listens to Officer Stephens when he talks to them,” he

said. “Even Dennis Rodman.”

Stephens, who doesn’t live in the city, said he can’t stay away

from the peninsula.

“I’ll come back every now and then,” he said, gazing at the deep,

blue water by the pier.

The peninsula is one of a kind in terms of its neighborhoods and

community, Stephens said.

“If you come here on the Fourth of July, you see all these people

partying on the beach,” he said. “But you also see the people who

have lived here for years and years, their grandkids riding around on

their little bikes -- it’s a neat area.”

It’s got “a little bit of everything,” Stephens said. Even when he

started as a rookie, he knew this was the place he wanted to police

for the rest of his career.

His biggest accomplishment over the years?

“Making it to retirement,” he said with a laugh.

His life has been enriched by the experiences his job has given

him, Stephens said.

“I’ve been involved in people’s intimate and private moments --

life and death,” he said. “It’s a privilege to be able to do that.”

Stephens said it’s always a thrill for him to get letters from

kids whom he once dealt with.

“They write to me saying, ‘Officer Stephens, I don’t know if you

remember me or not.’ And then they say they’re doing OK now in spite

of the problems they had,” Stephens said. “It’s nice to get that

update.”

He also enjoyed working with his longtime partner Officer Mike

Deladurantey, better known as “Officer Del” on the peninsula,

Stephens said.

“We went to the academy together,” he said. “We worked in Crime

Scene Investigation together.”

But Deladurantey retired a few days earlier than he did because of

an injury, Stephens said.

“This area was as dear to him as it is for me,” he said.

Stephens said he planned to spend his last day on the job saying

his goodbyes.

Bob Friend, a longtime resident, said Stephens is irreplaceable.

“Someone will come in and take Bob’s job,” he said. “But they can

never take his place.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.