Beach Patrol Officers Added
BYLINE: Sharon Kilbride, Chair, Law Enforcement Coordination Committee
PTFH Law Enforcement Coordination Committee requested two additional full-time Beach Patrol officers to help our committee patrol our beaches and bluffs. Captain Victor Davalos, Commanding Officer at WLA police station, has accommodated us with one additional officer. Also, rotating training officers have been added to work with our 3 full-time officers.
We are pleased to have Officers Rusty Redican, Jimmy Soliman, and now our new police officer, Earl Wright, on the LAPD Beach Patrol. Officer Wright has been stationed at the West Los Angeles police station for 8 years. He is very familiar with the Palisades and is a great addition to the team. We welcome Officer Wright and look forward to working with him. We are hopeful resources to support a fourth LAPD Beach Patrol officer will become available in the near future.
The Beach Patrol officers work directly with the PPTFH Law Enforcement Coordination Committee volunteers and The People Concern outreach team, engaging our homeless population and directing them to services.
Keeping our beaches and bluffs safe is a major concern. Currently, there are 5 summer day camps situated in the Will Rogers beaches. While LAPD prioritizes the safety of all the campers, they are also responsible for monitoring the hillsides for new encampments in the posted “Restricted Entry High Fire Zones”. PPTFH spent 2 years cleaning up hundreds of homeless encampments and LAPD helps in enforcing a zero tolerance for camping in these areas. The LAPD Beach Patrol has found several folks in our bluffs and has guided them directly to our outreach team to connect them to services, and, ultimately, housing.
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