On April 28, Arcadia Police Department hosts first in-person Coffee-with-a-Cop event since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, at the Bowlero in the Westfield Santa Anita mall. Prior to the pandemic, coffee was held once every 3 months. Arcadia Police Chief Roy Nakamura, five lieutenants, several sergeants, and volunteer police attended, along with some city council members.
Arcadia's Jason Lee donates $10,000 to Arcadia Police Foundation. He presented the check to Mary E. Hansen, the founding board member and Vice President of the Arcadia Police Foundation.
Arcadia residents, city officials grapple with homeless issue at a public forum at Arcadia Performing Arts Center. City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto said easing the homeless crisis comes down to two major areas--enforcement and services. Police Chief Roy Nakamura said the number of calls to Arcadia Police Department related to the homeless increased from 1493 in 2019, to 2067 in 2020.
Arcadia Woman's Club celebrates the 90th year of the construction and dedication of their clubhouse. The club is also applying for historical preservation landmark designation for its clubhouse. One of the club's first civic projects was establishing a library in Arcadia in 1914. After receiving approval from the county, a small library building at the southeast corner of First Avenue and Indiana (Wheeler) Street was established. Arcadia Police Chief Nakamura and Event Chair Marilyn Daleo attend and are in the photo.
Chief Roy Nakamura became Arcadia’s 30th Police Chief and its first of Asian-American descent on January 9, 2021. Captain Nakamura began his career with the Arcadia Police Department in 1992 as a Police Officer. As an Officer, he was assigned to Patrol and worked as a Field Training Officer, as well as being assigned to the Detective Bureau. As Detective, he was assigned to the Forgery and Fraud Unit and completed his Detective Bureau assignment in the Crimes Against Persons Unit. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2002 and worked as a Field Supervisor until he was transferred to Personnel and Training. In 2009, Captain Nakamura was promoted to Lieutenant, working various assignments under the Operations and Administration Divisions within the Department, including Watch Commander, Detective Bureau Commander, Field Training Officers Program Commander, and Force Training Unit Commander. In 2019, he was promoted to Captain. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Cal Poly Pomona.
Arcadia Unified School District has a Latino Literacy middle school program. Nearly seven years ago, the Latino Literacy program started at the elementary school level by Alejandra Worozaken, Catherine Merel and Andrea Mendoza. Then four years ago, the program expanded to the middle school level and Perlita Guzman has been working hard since then to get Latino families to meet weekly for six weeks. All families have the opportunity to learn from various speakers and specialists about topics such as college admissions, high school, trending topics about today's youth, and life experiences in general.