Recent fights on Long Beach boardwalk prompt calls for more police patrols
LONG BEACH, N.Y. -- There is a push for boardwalk safety after several recent fights in Long Beach.
One business owner is demanding more police patrols.
CBS2's Alice Gainer has the video and police response.
Police say there have been three recent teen fights at the boardwalk in Long Beach, all near Edwards Boulevard. The most recent happened this past Saturday at around 9 p.m.
"A call came in as a large fight and when police arrived the fight had already broken up," Long Beach Police Commissioner Ron Walsh said.
Brian Braddish, owner of Riptides along the boardwalk, shared a video.
"Guys riding dirt bikes on the boardwalk, mopeds on the boardwalk, and zero police present," Braddish said. "We want to see police restore order to the boardwalk before someone gets really hurt."
It was breezy and chilly on Monday night and still the boardwalk was pretty crowded, so the owner of Riptides says because of the crowds there should be police patrolling anyway.
Gainer didn't notice any patrols, but people she spoke with say they see them.
"They're just kind of walking up and down the boardwalk. I've seen them especially parked over by all the parking lots," one person said.
"There are a lot of them, on the road, on the boardwalk, on the beach," another person said.
Police say as summer progresses and the crowds grow, so too does their patrolling.
"Our police cars are coming up on the boardwalk. They are doing patrols from one end of the boardwalk to another. Starting this week, we are going to be initiating our beach patrols, ATVs up on the boardwalk and out on the beach. We've already started to initiate our bicycle patrols," Walsh said. "Every year around this time we experience an increase in these types of calls. Kids are getting out of school. They become restless. They're at the beach."
"Sometimes the kids get wild -- they go drink under boardwalk and they start to get loud," one person said.
"We need everyone -- students, parents, the public, schools, the community -- to be on the same page. If you see something, call the police. You hear something, call the school," said Dr. Jennifer Gallagher, superintendent of the Long Beach School District.
Police say they're investigating these recent incidents and hope they're the last for the season.
