Beach Alcohol Facts

Beach Alcohol Realities

Beach alcohol problems: Solve them, or just move away?
Letters published in local newspapers suggest that PB is different than other communities; visitors who don’t like it should stay away, and residents who don’t like it should move.

Unhealthy, illegal, and criminal behavior is not tolerated in any neighborhood, anywhere in San Diego. Pacific Beach has not always had these problems with alcohol-related crime. San Diego beaches are virtually the only city beaches in Southern California beaches that allow alcohol (Solana Beach and Del Mar still allow alcohol, but Del Mar bans it on July 4th, and neither of these cities has the wide, accessible stretches of beach that we do). We are attracting people from all over southern California who want to get plastered at the beach. Check out the internet and see how San Diego beaches are described with words like “boozefest” and “beer, beer, and more beer.” San Diego city beaches have become “drinking destinations.”

Alcohol-free beach policies don’t “punish” anyone.
Public beaches are not local parks. They are a natural resource to be enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. And everyone who visits the beaches should have the freedom to enjoy public beaches without risking harassment by out-of-control drunks.

What works in other beach communities will work in PB, MB, and OB, even though each beach community is different.
Every beach community is flooded with visitors on sunny days. These people come from all over the county, and beyond. Despite the different demographics of the residents of Pacific Beach and the La Jolla Shores area, the Shores experienced exactly the same beach problems that now plague Pacific Beach. The alcohol-related problems virtually disappeared when the Shores and the adjacent park went alcohol-free. Establishing a similar policy for Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, and Mission Bay will have the same effect.

Enforcing an alcohol-free beach policy will not pose a problem.
Del Mar implemented an alcohol-free policy for the Fourth of July holiday period, following a riot in 2001. During the holiday period in 2002, there were no fights or disruptions, and a limited number of arrests for possession of alcohol or for public intoxication. There were very few alcohol related incidents in the subsequent years, during which widespread compliance was achieved, according to a city staff report prepared in 2006.

Law enforcement becomes easier on an alcohol-free beach.
When large crowds of people have been drinking for hours, they become unruly. On an alcohol-free beach, violators can be identified and dealt-with before reaching their alcohol consumption results in unruly behavior. Police seldom have to wrestle sober people to the ground to gain compliance. People who are unaware of the rules can be approached and informed, without the risk of personal injury that’s present in a large group of drinkers.
Del Mar’s alcohol-free beach policy (for the Independence Day period) was implemented in 2002. According to a city staff report, there has been widespread compliance since then. It’s also important to note that in 2006, Del Mar’s law enforcement costs for the holiday period were estimated at ten thousand dollars, less than one-half the amount expended in each of the preceding four years.

Alcohol-related problems happen all year long on our beaches. The Labor Day riot was not an isolated incident.
While the Labor Day riot was an extreme example, unsafe conditions existed on many city beaches throughout the summer. There were fights, arrests, underage drinking, and other problems, although none on the scale of the Labor Day incident. Each alcohol-related problem on the beach is a waste of resources, ranging from police to lifeguards to emergency medical services. While those problems peak on busy holidays, they also occur every week of the year, to some degree. The Labor Day riot was not an isolated incident, it was simply a stronger example of alcohol-related beach problems.

Why hasn’t this issue gone away?
Times have changed since Proposition G was narrowly defeated in 2002. Many San Diegans understand the issue better now, and understand the connection between beach drinking and public safety. People across the city are tired of paying for police services, which are diverted to the beaches to deal with alcohol problems. People who live in the beach communities are tired of seeing their quality of life impacted by beach drinkers.

Proposition G was voted down by the slimmest of margins; about three thousand votes citywide. The proposition left some beach areas unprotected. Many voters who live in those areas favored getting alcohol off the beaches, but were forced to vote against Proposition G, because it would have concentrate alcohol problems on the beaches nearest their own homes.

Bottom line: This issue hasn’t gone away because alcohol-related beach problems have persisted.

San Diego City beaches are “open bars.” No host, no bouncers, no ID checks.
The beach may be the worst environment for drinking.
House parties tend to be smaller than gatherings on the beach. Additionally, the city already has programs and ordinances to deal with house parties. The social host ordinance holds hosts accountable for underage drinking. The CAPP program gives police additional enforcement powers at chronic “party houses.” And the administrative fine program that has been effective in the College Area will be implemented citywide. This can result in fines to tenants and their landlords, when a tenant’s party creates a nuisance.
Additionally, when police resources aren’t wasted on babysitting beach drunks, more officers will be available for safe, controlled dispersals when house parties get out of hand. Currently, police don’t have enough officers to respond to reports of out-of-control parties.

What about the recommendations of the Beach Alcohol Task Force?
None of the BATF recommendations dealt directly with the consumption of alcohol on the beach, nor with dealing with the problems created by beach drinking.

We are not opposed to alcohol, we are opposed to the public drunkenness, bad behavior, criminal activity and threats to public safety that result from allowing uncontrolled drinking on the beach. Alcohol-free beach policies work in every single city where they have been implemented. It’s time San Diego says yes to safe, clean, and fun beaches and parks.

Safe Beaches is a growing coalition of city residents, concerned citizens, regular visitors, businesses, and community groups who support Councilman Kevin Faulconer and other San Diego City Council Members in their leadership to have alcohol-free beaches and parks.