[7] The CMPD also operates a SWAT team, a motorcycle unit, and an animal control service.

[10] As a result of the Great Recession, the 2011 budget for Costa Mesa included cuts to the CMPD.

Items cut included a police helicopter program characterized as a "luxury" by the mayor.

[11] Police chief Staveley resigned in protest, claiming that the budget crisis was a fiction created by City Hall for political purposes.

[12] In January 2023, the department launched an internal investigation after a man uploaded a Tik Tok video that allegedly shows an officer using a racial slur during a traffic stop.