Newport Beach Police Department

The Newport Beach Police Department is getting the blues. Starting today, department officers will no longer sport the khaki brown uniforms that they have worn for the last 20 years. Instead, they will don the dark blue of all the other county police departments, said the department's spokesman, Sgt. Andy Gonis. Police Chief Arb Campbell requested the change to enhance the department's image and to comply with a mid-1980s resolution by the California Police Chiefs Assn., Gonis said.

Capt. James Gardiner, a 17-year Newport Beach Police Department veteran, has been named the new police chief for San Luis Obispo, officials said Thursday. Gardiner, who will assume his new post Aug. 31, was selected over 100 other applicants, Newport Beach police spokesman Kent Stoddard said. San Luis Obispo has 56 sworn officers, compared with 151 in Newport Beach, Stoddard said.

Anyone interested in volunteering with the Newport Beach Police Department, or just curious about police work in general, might want to attend Wednesday's Speak Up Newport meeting. Department officials will talk about the newly formed Citizens Police Academy, in which residents can get a glimpse of law enforcement. The 12-week course includes drug-dog demonstrations, classes on the judicial process and an officer's-eye view of a traffic stop.

A 50-year-old man apparently hanged himself in his jail cell last week in what authorities believe to be the first in-custody death in the Newport Beach Police Department's history. A custodial officer performing routine checks of the department's jail cells discovered the man from Lake Elsinore about 2 p.m. Thursday, according to police. Emergency aid by the officer and paramedics trying to resuscitate the man was unsuccessful; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The man had been arrested that day for multiple outstanding warrants, according to Newport Beach police.

Police on Tuesday identified Michael Thomas Purnell, 50, of Lake Elsinore as the man found dead after he apparently hanged himself in his Newport Beach Police Department jail cell last week. Purnell was found about 2 p.m. Thursday when a custodial officer was early for an hourly routine check, according to Sgt. Evan Sailor. Purnell was arrested that day on various criminal warrants and there was no indication that he was suicidal, Sailor said. The custodial officer tried to save Purnell and called paramedics, who tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Members of the Newport Beach Police Department were honored by the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce at the annual Police Appreciation breakfast. Awards of merit went to Officer Peter Perrin for his work as the department's polygrapher; Technical Reserve Officer Lynne Bloomberg for her work educating children about substance abuse; and Det. Joe Thrasher for 22 months of investigation in a vehicle theft case in which 178 motorcycles and 42 cars worth $1.7 million were recovered.

Police are asking the public for help in finding a man posing as a county employee who has bilked at least two victims out of hundreds of dollars with the bogus promise of jobs. Police are looking for other victims and anyone who can identify the man who calls himself "Mark," a county worker who promises well-paying jobs but only after the job candidate supplies union dues.

Ty Harper, 12, stood before an audience of Newport Beach police officers, fellow classmates and their parents to read his essay about refusing drugs and alcohol. "Life has many responsibilities, including chores at home and learning in school," he said. "On the other hand, life also offers many choices of which the most important is about drugs."