Council detail quiet

Anticipating a large crowd, Costa Mesa police staffed Tuesday night’s City Council meeting with increased security.

The council was considering adopting a plan proposed by Mayor Allen Mansoor to have local police trained to enforce federal immigration laws -- a topic that drew heated debate among residents.

With the exception of one man who was escorted out of the meeting by police after he yelled profanities at Mansoor and called him a racist, the meeting went without any major security concerns, said Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Marty Carver.

Police normally staff City Council meetings with one officer. Given the strong public interest in the meeting topic, police added one extra officer to security detail Tuesday, Carver said.

“We estimated a large crowd, a lot of public speaking, so we just increased the reserves by one,” Carver said.

In addition to the second officer, Chief John Hensley and Lt. Allen Huggins were also present in uniform.

When one man started using profanity during the public comment portion of the meeting, police told him not to use profanity or he would be removed. He continued and police asked him to leave. The man was not arrested, Carver said.

The council approved, 3-2, a version of the plan that seeks to have jailers, detectives, and officers assigned to gang units trained in immigration enforcement.