LOCAL NEWS — While some of-age San Diegans will kick and
scream about the new one-year ban on alcohol at all San Diego beaches, the
ordinance will serve its purpose in helping recreate San Diego’s image as a
safe, family-friendly town that welcomes all to its calm, sunny beaches.
Since the ban is only limited to a one-year trial, it still
leaves the door open for future boozing. Although Councilman Kevin Faulconer
wished to impose a permanent ban on liquor consumption at local beaches, the
compromise of a one-year ban will provide both sides a year full of statistics
and interpretations that will yield more definitive answers.
Even though it seems like the San Diego City Council has
only voted to postpone an eventual decision on the divisive issue, this is an
important step; it is one that shows more action on the council’s part than
their previous two decades of complacency.
The problem of
alcohol presence on public beaches was first brought up in 1991, when the
council voted in favor of a similar one-year ban. However, the council was
forced to withdraw the proposal because opposing local business owners and
community members gathered enough signatures for a referendum.
It was evident at the time that the issue was not as
pressing, because instead of having their resolution go to a public referendum,
they conceded and did not go forward with the trial ban on alcohol.
Since the early 1990s, alcohol consumption and parties on
local beaches have grown exponentially. Rowdy beach scenes culminated this past
Labor Day, when a drunken melee broke out and riot police were required to
subdue the intoxicated crowd.
After the dust had settled, 15 people had been arrested —
seven of whom were underage — and San Diego was given a tarnished image all
over the national media.
Given the circumstances, the city council felt the need to
make some substantial change, and City Attorney Michael Aguirre eventually
stepped up with the passed trial ban.
It is a shame that the average beachgoer won’t be able to
crack open a cold beer or two on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the beach, but
this law has not gone into effect to curb this display of serene,
non-threatening drinking. Instead, the ban’s overarching goal is to re-inject a
sense of sanity and civility into the three biggest party days of the year on
San Diego Beaches: Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day.
In 2006, the estimated number of people in Pacific Beach and
Mission Bay on July 4 was upward of 200,000, and whenever that large of a
population (with large amounts of alcohol) is condensed into such a confined
area, violence easily occurs.
Since San Diego beaches are popularized as prized vacation
spots, this year’s holidays will most likely still be heavily attended, giving
San Diego lawmakers a perfect control group for comparing statistics.
The councilmembers can only hope that news of their alcohol
ban does not spread quickly beyond San Diego. The ban will only provide
accurate statistics if the same number of people show up at the beaches as
usual, a fact contingent on non-local partygoers still coming to San Diego and
not changing their holiday plans to allow for heavy drinking.
With close to a quarter of a million people crowded on the
beaches, only a few hundred arrests might seem comparatively insignificant, but
what the hordes draw more than anything is attention from local police.
On these celebrated beach days, San Diego must divert the
majority of its police force to patrol the surrounding beaches and attempt to
maintain order. Since the beaches are not the only local areas visited during
these raucous holidays, the likelihood of serious problems beyond the coastline
is dangerously high.
The city has concluded that at these high-risk events, an
adequate police force would consist of one officer for every 50 civilians; the
same ratio used at San Diego Chargers football games.
Having 4,000 armed police patrolling up and down San Diego’s
beaches would pose a huge logistical problem and be inconvenient for both
beachgoers and officers.
Of course, even with the alcohol ban in effect, police will
continue to monitor the beaches and keep order when necessary, but now the
police department can distribute its resources where they are more directly
needed.
As with any law, this alcohol ban will not eliminate 100
percent of drinking, but it will hopefully cut down on the amount of binge
drinking that occurs on San Diego beaches. Now, if somebody is daring enough to
break the alcohol ban and drink on a San Diego beach, they are most likely
going to drink in extreme moderation to avoid being arrested.
Having a regulation on the books that curtails drinking will
be a big enough deterrence to keep dangerous binge drinkers off local beaches.
One particular demographic that will be devastated by this
ban is the local Over the Line faithful. The popular San Diego beach ballgame
has gained a large following over the last decade, drawing over 50,000 eager
spectators for the official 2006 tournament.
The game, which pits two teams of three players against each
other, is a combination of baseball and softball that serves as a perfect
leisure sport to allow for liberal alcoholic consumption while providing enough
action to satisfy thrill-seekers. With the alcohol ban, Over the Line will now
have to be played sober, a prospect that will surely persuade many players to
stay home, drink a few beers and watch a football game instead.
This year-long ban will try the patience of more than a few
San Diegans and might even hinder some of the city’s commercial revenue.
However, a year of beaches without alcohol will have its
benefits. It will be a great way for San Diego to understand the true effects
of combining liquor and beaches. And then, if after a year the evidence
concludes that there was no difference in crime rate or beach safety, then
councilmembers will reexamine the necessity of the law and most likely allow
alcohol on beaches once again.
But if the statistics produced by this ban show conclusive evidence
that removing alcohol from the beaches drastically improves the area’s overall
livelihood, then the ordinance will have fulfilled its goal to provide enough
groundwork for future regulations to maintain the safe and healthy atmosphere
created during the year-long ban.
Reality can have a very sobering affect on people, and
hopefully a year of forcing people to realize that the pristine
beaches can be fully enjoyed sans alcohol will be the most efficient hangover
cure for the city as a whole.
