The Hermosa Beach Police and Fire departments are preparing for this year’s Fourth of July with a proactive approach in the hopes of reducing arrests and emergency response incidents.
Last year, the police department responded to 244 incidents, a leap from the 2008 – 2012 average of 180.
“Very early we had a massive influx of people coming in to drink hard—mostly around 2nd Street,” Interim Police Chief Steve Johnson said at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
“We ran out of jail space,” said Johnson, citing the 18 drunk in public arrests they made throughout the day. “We had to let some people out early because we had some people in a worse state, some were sobering up while some were more heavily intoxicated.”
At last year’s Fourth of July, the fire department responded to 31 emergency incidents, with activity increasing after noon and peaking in the evening until midnight.
Along with staffing two paramedic ambulances, one emergency medical technician ambulance, two paramedic fire engines and one command vehicle, city officials will also utilize social media to track activity and provide information to the public. They plan to focus on underage drinking and hope by monitoring social media to stop parties before they get out of hand.
The city will also hire 25 additional LA County Sheriff’s Deputies, including horse-mounted and prisoner transportation deputies. A large bus and van located closer to the activity is expected to help cut down on transportation time to the jail.
“Our goal is not to arrest people, but to make sure we have a safe and secure beach and July 4,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the mentality of holiday revelers must change, from seeing Hermosa as a “place where you can party hard” to “a wonderful place to enjoy July 4 as long as you come here respectfully.”
Amplified music will also be prohibited and short-term rentals, that are currently not permitted within the city, will be reviewed and property owners will be reminded about the City’s 30-day minimum occupancy requirement, city officials said.
“If we were going to have a plan for the 4th of July traditionally we would see it in June,” Councilmember Jeff Duclos said. “To bring this forward now in February is absolutely critical… it speaks to the importance of this and the need to prepare.”
“We all feel we inched up to the precipice of something really, really bad last year,” Mayor Kit Bobko said. “It scared us all.” ER
