Christopher
Cedillo
Professor
Slobod
English
113B
1
March 2012
Law Enforcement is a Must
Tourist attractions bring different kinds
of people from all over the world into one place. When visiting Los Angeles,
one of those tourist attractions is Venice Beach. Venice beach is well known
for the amusement along side the beach, the different kinds of people walking
the streets and the ocean water. “The area along the boardwalk - with its
eclectic mix of tourists, street performers and bohemians - is among the most
popular visitor destinations in the Los Angeles region”(Blankstein and Lopez). It’s
a perfect place to relax with friends on the beach and walk on the boardwalk,
which is a small road along the beach. What police
officials acknowledge is that there are many dangers that undergo Venice beach.
One of them includes the promotion of drugs and people of all ages consuming
these illegal substances on the beach. The fact that there are many people on
the beach, the lack of security makes people think its okay to break the laws
at Venice. These acts of violence and danger also include theft, gangs,
assaults and murder. Venice is a big place with minimal security, which means
they don’t spot everything. There needs to be more security and law enforcement
on Venice beach to minimize crimes and keep this tourist attraction safe for
everyone.
One of the most common crimes at
Venice beach is the use of illegal drugs and alcohol of all ages. The streets
of Venice themselves smell like Marijuana and are filled with the promotion of
drugs by advertising medical cards and smoking devices. The fact that medical
marijuana clinics are along the boardwalk should catch police’s attention
because it lures in the wrong people sometimes. Among these people include
underage teenagers and anyone who does not posses a medical card, which gives
them access to buy marijuana. Anyone who is not allowed to purchase these items
might find some who will buy it for them. The arrests of purchasing illegal
substances to minors happen all the time in any city. Imagine the number of
times it has happened at Venice beach, a place where they promote drugs? This
is something that law enforcement should take a bigger stand on because it
causes people to have easier access to drugs. With drugs being sold, people
flutter the streets with narcotics or later use them on the beach. Along side
marijuana, the use of alcohol is something people go there to do. With little
law enforcement around, people think it’s okay to do whatever they want and
abuse beach laws. These things also influence underage teenagers to do the
same, which causes a bigger problem for Venice. “Dozens of people have been
arrested for smoking pot and drinking in public, minor transgressions but ones
that set the tone of public order on the beach”(Hoag). With more and more people abusing narcotics, the beach
becomes more threating to public safety. With more law enforcement on the beach,
the use of drugs and alcohol will minimize to hardly any police arrests because
people will finally respect the laws.
Everyone is always worried about the
thought of getting assaulted or robbed at any given time. Venice beach poses a
big threat to robbery because there aren’t many police officials to maintain a
situation at any given time. Especially since there are so many people, anyone
can rob something from a store or a person and disappear into the crowd of
people before police has time to approach the scene. There have been many cases
in the LA Times where people have been arrested for assault and a couple of
them being murder. Citizens and people visiting Venice beach should feel safe
all the times but with murders happening consistently, it is hard for someone
to enjoy the beautiful beach. Still to this day, there is an unsolved beach
killing incident that happened four years ago where a young man was found dead
on Venice beach. “Nathan Alan Morgan, 25, was found beaten to death and buried
under a mound of sand on Venice Beach on the morning of March 10, 2008. More
than a year later, police still don't know who killed him or why”(Pesce). Cases such as the unsolved murder should spark a
thought to someone, to have more security patrol at Venice. The feeling of
being unsafe can cause people not to return to Venice and give it a bad reputation.
“Overall, the number of violent crimes reported this year along the
Venice boardwalk is roughly on par with the last two years, according to a
Times analysis of LAPD data”(Blankstein and Lopez). These numbers will not
decrease over time by itself unless more police officers are stationed to
patrol Venice Beach.
Other incidents that
involved gang related problems cause another threat to the safety of patrons.
Gangs involve a numerous amount of corrupted people who are always up to no
good. With gangs walking around and claiming their so-called “territories” in
Venice, danger can strike at any given time. Incidents such as fight are common
along the boardwalk and should be put to an end because these fights cause
serious injuries and deaths. An LA Times article explains how just two years
ago a massive fight broke out that police needed to call reinforcements and
clear out the beach to protect civilians. “A
giant brawl involving as many as 70 young men broke out on the Venice Beach
Boardwalk on Sunday evening, prompting the Los Angeles Police Department to
briefly declare a citywide tactical alert”(Hoeffel and Blankstein). It’s
outrageous how seventy people were in a fight? Police should have been aware
when large crowds started to come out of nowhere. Or were there even any police
officials there to even spot this massacre. The fight lasted about an hour but
luckily there weren’t and serious injuries. Theses fights have an effect on
teenagers as well because they imitate what they see happening on Venice beach
when police are not there to stop them. With more
law enforcements’ making arrests, these “territories” that gangs owned will disappear.
People of all ages will see that Venice is no place to cause a ruckus because
you will get arrested in a second. These territories are not to be claimed by
anyone because Venice Beach is a space for everyone to enjoy.
It should also
be kept safe because it is a home and attraction to many. Many people gather up
on Venice’s boardwalk to make a living by selling their merchandise. Sometime
they even put on acts to earn a couple dollars from the people. This beach
should be protected from thieves who try to break into homes or steel the
merchandise that people live off of. Venice beach is a hot spot to many who can’t
afford going to an entertainment park because Venice is their entertainment.
Just like in the shorty story by Sarah Bryan Miller called “Winstead’s Best
Burgers,” she sees Winstead as a place she can visit and remember good
memories. Whenever she had the chance she would go back to Winstead embrace the
same feeling every time she went there. It remained the same. Sarah mentioned a
woman named Connie Llamas who enjoys working at Winstead and has been there for
twenty-five years. Connie states, “the place is pretty much the same. It just
got bigger. People who retired and moved away come back on vacations-they think
that Winstead’s the place to be. And it is.” Venice Beach is a Winstead to many
because they like Venice the way it is and every time they go back it is just
as amusing as before.
Venice beach is
a big time tourist attraction to many because they love the environment and the
attractions it has. It brings back memories that will never be forgotten. When
given a chance, like Sarah Miller and her Winstead, people will go back to
Venice to look at its originality, to look back and see the memory they had.
With more laws enforced, people will feel restricted to do what they did before
and it will drive people out of Venice. It would no longer be a tourist
attraction because there would be no entertainment whatsoever. The people would
change and it would not be the same Venice it used to be, however crimes would
not do Venice any good either. There should still be some kind of law
enforcement protecting the safety of patrons. Venice at the moment does not
have that kind security because there are not that many officers to keep watch
of everything. The protection of human safety is more important than someone’s
memory of a “fun” time because “fun” to someone could be breaking a law. People
can still have fun without breaking any laws, in fact people will have more fun
because they would not have to worry about getting robbed or beaten to death
for some money.
More officers should be hired to patrol
the boardwalk of Venice to ensure the people of their safety. Under cover cops
should be hired as well to prevent to spread to underage drinking and narcotic
abuse. People would not have to ease up or think about getting mugged when they
are in a secure place with law enforcement around. In an article written by
Christina Hoag in the LA Times, she interviews a police officer to see what he
had to say about Venice. "People come here from all over the world and we
want them to come," said police Capt. Jon Peters. "But clearly, in my
mind, this has become a public safety issue. We're taking an aggressive
enforcement posture.” Even the police officer knows that Venice is an
entertainment tourist attraction to many but more police officers are needed to
ensure safety. “Authorities acknowledge that policing the massive and sometimes
unruly crowds is a challenge”(Blankstein and Lopez). With so many people in one
place who knows what might happen, therefore safety becomes an issue everyone
is concerned about. Having more police patrols on the beach and the boardwalk
will reduce the number of crime rates from illegal drug use, robberies, fights
and assaults. Better enforcement would only enhance tourist attraction because
everyone will feel safe and enjoy the beautiful beach of Venice.
Works Cited
Blankstein,
Andrew, and Robert J. Lopez. "LAPD Beefs up Patrols on Venice Beach,
Boardwalk." Los Angeles
Times. 28 Apr. 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.
<www.latimes.com>.
Hoag,
Christina. "LAPD At Venice Beach: Police Turn Up The Heat." The
Huffington
Post. 11 May 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com>.
Hoeffel,
John, and Andrew Blankstein. "Police Clear Venice Beach after 70 Young Men
Start Brawling on Boardwalk." Los
Angeles Times. 31 May 2010. Web. 28 Feb.
2012. <www.latimes.com>.
Pesce,
Anthony. "Venice Beach Killing Remains Unsolved." Los Angeles Times.
23 Aug.
2009. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.latimes.com>.
No comments:
Post a Comment