Police Chief Speaks On 'Beach Takeover'

Speaking to The Hermosa Review on Tuesday, Hermosa Beach Police Chief Landon Phillips said that most of the teenagers who took part in a so-called 'beach takeover' last week cooperated with police and that actual law-breaking was limited to a small handful of people, two of whom were arrested.

He also said police would begin routinely monitoring social media to keep an eye out for any such incidents in the future.

Friday’s gathering, which had been advertised on Instagram and other social media platforms, drew an estimated 400 to 500 teens and young adults from across the South Bay and Los Angeles. 

“When something is advertised as a takeover, it raises concerns about the size of the crowd and the behavior that can come with it,” Phillips said. “Had we learned of it sooner, we probably would have done a little more to mitigate it.”

Phillips said calls began coming in from residents, visitors, and business owners Friday afternoon, with reports of a large, disruptive crowd, along with public drinking, fighting and disruptive behavior at local stores.  

Phillips said six officers from the HBPD responded to 22nd Street and The Strand. Manhattan Beach sent two additional officers, and Redondo Beach provided a drone with an officer to monitor the crowd.

The crowd dispersed after about four hours and the beach was clear by about 9 p.m.

“Most everyone in the group was cooperative, respectful,” the chief said.

Some residents were particularly alarmed by what appeared to be fights for entertainment. Posts on Instagram had promised boxing. The chief said such impromptu boxing matches were not illegal. 

“It’s what we refer to as mutual combat,” he said, “If it’s agreed, ‘hey we’re going to put on boxing gloves and fight each other.’ But when it starts to cause injuries, now we’re getting into liability and hospitals and things like that.”

Two people were arrested Friday. One man believed to be connected to the event, was taken into custody for possession of a stolen vehicle. And a girl was arrested on suspicion of assault after an altercation with an employee at the Green Store.

“She had either a cup or a bottle of Gatorade and threw it on the employee and then spat in his direction,” Phillips said. She was arrested, cited and later released to her parents.

Police received four additional reports of assault involving people attending the gathering, but no arrests were made. 

Social media posts from residents following the event suggested organized fights and possible betting, but Phillips said investigators have found no evidence to support those claims.

“We're not aware of any type of betting that was occurring. Can't say that it wasn't, but we're not aware of it,” he said. “We did see a video and it shows two guys with boxing gloves fighting each other, and there is a caption on the video that says $100 per knockout.”

He noted, however, that “it's social media, so anyone can post a video through an editing software and throw a caption on there.”

Looking ahead, the department plans to increase monitoring of social media to identify similar events earlier.

“And had we learned of it sooner, we probably would have done a little more to try to mitigate it,” he said. “We're going to be doing a lot more to be watchful for anything that's happening on our beach.”

Phillips said a crime analyst will track posts mentioning Hermosa Beach and look for gatherings that appear to be gaining traction.

“If it looks like it's something that might gain traction, that's when we'll start putting together an operations plan,” he said.

Future responses could include increased staffing, earlier intervention and coordination with neighboring agencies or the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“When we learn of something, we'll staff up. Not stopping anyone from coming to the beach, they can do so. But if they're bringing alcohol on the beach, we're going to intervene. If they’re doing any type of activities where people might get hurt, we’re going to intervene.”

Phillips said the department’s approach will focus on early enforcement to deter disruptive behavior.

“If we get ahead of it early and stay with it and they communicate for us with each other that Hermosa Beach isn't the hangout spot this week or this month, then they'll move on.”

For now, police said day-to-day patrol operations will not change, but officers will conduct additional checks in the area and continue to respond to reports from the public.

“We're going to be monitoring it. We will respond. We will do everything we can to keep the community safe,” Phillips said.