For Hermosa Beach Sergeant Mick Gaglia, Coffee with a Cop day at Java Man was much like any other day. Friday was National Coffee With A Cop Day.
“I come to Java Man every morning with Officer Mike Frilot,” he said.
Java Man’s regulars know the two as Mike and Mick.
Friday morning, Sgt. Gaglia was joined by half a dozen other officers who offered coffee and shared advice and stories with passing residents.
Gaglia said he knows many of the residents because he grew up in Hermosa. Sgt. Jaime Ramirez had at least a nodding acquaintance with just about everyone who came by because he’s been a Hermosa officer for over 20 years.
For a time Ramirez headed up the downtown night patrols.
“We issued a lot of drunk in public citations. They’re expensive and word got out. I think that’s one of the reasons we don’t have as many problems downtown anymore,” he said.
In response to being asked about police body cameras, Ramirez said he welcomes them.
“When I was a motorcycle officer, people complained I was rude. So I bought my own cassette recorder. When a person complained, I’d give a cassette of the arrest to my supervisor. Chief Mike Lavin liked the idea so much, he got tape recorders for the entire department,” Ramirez said.
Hermosa police cars are equipped with dashboard cameras and the department hopes to have body cameras for its officers next year, Ramirez said.
Detective Jonathan Cruz talked about the bike theft problem after resident Sheryl Main told of thieves clipping her bike lock under her front window.
“I heard them, but thought it was someone working,” she said.
Cruz noted that Prop. 47, the Safe Schools and Neighborhood, approved by voters in 2014, reduced many nonviolent property crimes, such as bike theft, from felonies to misdemeanors. He suggested keeping bikes inside, and then locking your doors.
“Over 80 percent of crime results from people not locking their cars or their houses,” he said.
Jailer Kelly Tranbarger and police accreditation clerk Xochitl Escutia were greeted by resident Alison McMahon Johnson, who was wearing a T-shirt she bought at the Labor Day Weekend Fiesta.
The shirt read, “Hermosa Beach Bed and Breakfast. Over 60,000 served.” The shirt’s illustration showed cuffed hands holding a coffee cup behind bars.
The shirts, which are sold by the police, is a spoof on the Hermosa Beach Jail Pay to Stay program.
“People can work off their sentences for $250 a night,” Tranbarger said. “Most people do it on weekends. We recommend not more than 48 hours at a time because the light is always on and there are no windows. After 48 hours, you start to lose track of time,” she said.
Officers at the coffee were wearing pink Hermosa Beach Police patches, which were for sale for $10. Over 60 police and fire agencies throughout Los Angeles County, including Hermosa’s, Manhattan’s, Redondo’s and Palos Verdes, are participating in this month’s Pink Patch Project, which raises money for breast cancer research. The patches, as well as Pink Patch T-shirts are available at the police department and online at PinkPatchProject.com. ER
