Enhanced LAPD Beach Detail: Keeping the Palisades Beaches and Hillsides Safe for Everyone
BYLINE: Sharon Kilbride
Chair, Volunteer Response Team
Budget cuts to the West LA division of LAPD threatened to undermine the two extra Beach detail officers normally deployed to our beaches and hillsides in the summer during prime fire season. However, Captain Tom, Commanding Officer of West LA area, found additional hours in his budget that was used to fund them through September. This summer our Beach detail has been comprised of Officers Margin, Bermudez, Villanueva, Fletes and Muhammad. In addition, Officer Carbajal had been training here for one month. We are so fortunate to have these officers present in the Palisades 7 days a week!
The Beach detail is essential in keeping our hillsides safe from illegal camps and fires. It also clears the beaches daily to ensure the safety of the five children’s camps that stretch from Santa Monica Canyon to Temescal Canyon. The officers work daily with our PPTFH Volunteer Response Team, keeping our volunteers and Outreach Team safe in the restricted-entry hillside areas when engaging with unhoused individuals. They also help us with individuals who are mentally unstable or exhibit violent behavior.
The additional officers help provide the necessary protection for our community during the fire season. In July alone, the Beach detail found three areas in the hillsides where evidence of fire was noted and engaged 92 individuals. In addition, our team of volunteers located and cleaned up 48 illegal camps. Having this increased Beach detail during the summer is surely worth additional funding as one undetected illegal camp could potentially harm our community and injure the lives of our people experiencing homelessness. If you see our Beach detail, please thank them for their service. Thanks go out to Captain Jonathan Tom for his continued support of the Task Force. Keeping everyone safe is our goal.
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