Thanks to a stepped-up law enforcement presence along the beach, the Hermosa Beach police and fire departments both said the July 4 weekend came and went with relatively few incidents, at least compared to more raucous celebrations in previous years. One notable exception was an extensive, multi-agency manhunt for a missing teenager that started late at night on the 4th.
The police department said it made just 12 arrests over the holiday weekend this year, compared to 37 last year and 38 in 2013. There were 24 citations given, down from 54 last year and 109 in 2013. Calls for service were also down to 247 this year, from 281 last year and 353 in 2013.
For the third year in a row, the Hermosa police department supplemented its three dozen officers with personnel from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, as well as volunteer cadets from El Camino College. All told, about 100 law enforcement officers patrolled the city.
The police set up a mobile command center at 2nd Street and Hermosa Avenue. Inside of the trailer, deputies monitored Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to suss out plans for underage and public drinking. (Last year, they uncovered a conspiracy to bury kegs in the sand via social media monitoring). The Sheriff’s Department declined to discuss their social media detective work.
A nearby Sheriff’s Department bus, normally used for transporting prisoners, was set aside for use as a drunk tank. There were also droves of deputies patrolling the Strand and beach on all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, SUV’s and on horseback.
Hermosa paid about $50,000 for the Sheriff’s Department’s services.
“Our partnership with the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department allowed us to maintain high visibility throughout Hermosa Beach during the July 4th weekend,” Chief Sharon Papa said in a statement. “This high visibility, along with active enforcement, ensured that everyone enjoyed a safe and fun filled weekend at the beach.”
Fire Department Chief Dan Lantzer also said the Fourth of July was relatively quiet. He said the department responded to 26 calls, most of which were for EMT’s, between noon on July 4 and 2:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, which he said was down from prior years, before the ramped-up law enforcement efforts began.
“Before we started trying to change the culture of July 4th, we had more than 40 calls over that timeframe,” Lantzer said.
There were also two to three dozen complaints related to illegal fireworks, he said. At least one fire broke out on a home’s porch thanks to misfired fireworks, he added.
The biggest commotion of the night came around 10:45 p.m. when a 19-year old girl was reported missing by her friends after last being seen in the ocean. The call set off a search and rescue mission that included personnel from the Sheriff’s Department, the Hermosa Beach fire and police departments, the Redondo Beach Fire Department, Los Angeles County Lifeguards and the U.S. Coast Guard. Two helicopters were deployed.
The search was called-off around 1 a.m. when the girl, described as having bright pink hair, was found in a nearby home after having wandered in through an unlocked door. She was arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public and could be asked to foot some of the bill for the manhunt.
