Crime & Safety

Police Prep for Summer Without Full Boardwalk

LBPD anticipates increased pedestrian traffic as walkway is under construction.


Without a full boardwalk in Long Beach this spring and summer after Hurricane Sandy destroyed the original structure last October, more people are expected to take to the city streets to walk, jog and ride their bicycles. For the Long Beach Police Department, this activity comes with heightened safety issues.

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LBPD spokesman Lt. Eric Cregeen said that while the department is fully aware of these unusual circumstances in the beach town, officers will still take the same basic approach toward patrols and enforcement while the new boardwalk is under construction in the coming months.

“We are anticipating a normal beach season and we have a plan for the season while the boardwalk is being built,” Cregeen told Patch on Monday. “And we will be fluid to deal with all contingencies.”

The department will have officers focus more on double parked and other illegally parked vehicles throughout the city, particularly on its main thoroughfares such as Park Avenue, West Beech Street, Broadway and Shore Road.

“We would like it if people didn’t run on Broadway and the other main roads, but this is going to be a priority,” he said.

The City Council on April 4 approved a contract with Grace Industries, a  Plainview-based highway construction company, to build the tropical wood and concrete boardwalk for $44.2 million. Peter Gerbasi, vice president of Liro, the engineering firm that will oversee the project, said the first sections of the boardwalk will be built at the center of town, roughly between Neptune Boulevard and Long Beach Boulevard, but the full structure isn’t slated for completion until the fall.

This means that for at least part of the summer season stretches of the beach will remain boardwalk-less, leaving areas wide-open for people to potentially walk onto the beach rather than pay fees.

While city officials have indicated the some type of fencing is expected to go up along the boardwalk entrance areas, Cregeen said the city anticipates that Grace Industries will submit finalized plans for boardwalk construction in coming weeks, which will reveal more exactly how the city can police the beach this summer.

“We’re waiting for the plan for the boardwalk and the outlying areas by the contractor,” Cregeen said. “We’re hoping to get that within a couple of weeks. This is a major project that is moving fast.”

Meanwhile, the city will continue to employ its full force of specials officers, about 30 in all, who are tasked with patrolling the boardwalk and enforcing its rules.

Cregeen also said that, as part of the numerous vehicles the city lost to flooding during Sandy, plans are to purchase two Polaris vehicles and four 4x4 all terrain vehicles that police will share with the lifeguard patrol.

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