Police presence to be felt on Fourth

Sue Doyle

NEWPORT BEACH -- Expect streets here to be packed on the Fourth of July

-- not only with celebrations and party-goers, but with more than 200

police officers in case the trouble of years past rears its head again.

The entire Newport Beach Police Department, all reserve officers, plus

backup from the California Highway Patrol and Orange County Sheriff’s

Department will hit the streets.

Officers will work in 12-hour shifts and will set up a special command

center behind City Hall for arrests, said Sgt. Mike McDermott of the

Newport Beach Police Department.

Although the Fourth of July is a national holiday to celebrate, past

experiences in the city have made officials wary about potential mayhem,

especially in what some have dubbed the “War Zone,” the nickname given to

West Newport -- notorious for parties that grow out of control.

Even West Newport’s most famous resident, basketball star Dennis Rodman

has joined the party, setting the city’s record for most police

disturbance calls to one residence.

And on July 4, that part of town turns into a social epicenter, where

thousands crowd into the streets on bikes, skateboards and on foot, and

hop from party to party.

In 1986, vacationing youths on Seashore Drive threw bottles and fireworks

at police, injuring one officer. Officers now patrol that area with

helmets.

“We’ve had years past where it’s been shoulder-to-shoulder on Seashore

Drive,” McDermott said. “Some cars were turned over and set on fire.”

But 1992 marked the worst for crime on the Fourth. A gang-related

shooting of three young men at 21st Street and Ocean Front turned the

holiday into an ugly manhunt for the suspects. The shooting was followed

by the beating of a 17-year-old by gang members and the stabbing of a

25-year-old man during a fight, officials said.

According to news accounts, other revelers that same year poked fun at

passersby and squirted them with high-powered water guns.

And one man who walked along the boardwalk felt the brunt of it the most,

reports showed.

When the man saw the jokesters armed with water guns, he reportedly

pulled out his hearing aid and asked to be left alone because it was not

waterproof. In return, the hearing aid was doused with water and revelers

covered the man in beer and then punched him in his ear, the reports

said.

Since then, things have quieted down considerably on the Fourth.

Last year, officials made 180 arrests in 48 hours -- a number that may

sound high, but lower than in the late ‘80s when there were 300 to 400

arrests during holiday weekends, McDermott said.

Another effective crowd-control technique is to block off different

streets from noon July 4 to midnight. Now the party’s over on Seashore

Drive.

It’s now closed from 51st to 36th streets to all pedestrians, cars and

bicycles. It will be barricaded in different locations to prevent any

die-hard revelers from breaking in.

Eastbound Balboa Boulevard from Coast Highway to 32nd Street, and the 100

blocks between Prospect Street are closed to traffic.

People can access the Balboa Peninsula from Newport Boulevard, which will

remain open all day. Residents can take Newport Boulevard, turn right on

32nd Street and then right on Balboa Boulevard.