From 1971 to 2013, police services were provided by the Brea Police Department. Beginning in 1971, this marked the first time in the state's history that a municipality, as opposed to a county sheriff's department, provided police services to another municipality. Prior to this setup, but after the city's incorporation in 1967, Yorba Linda did contract with the Orange County Sheriff's Department, which was and still is typical for municipalities that are not large enough or simply choose not to maintain an in-house police department.