Mayhem in Mission Beach, San Diego, California

It is interesting when you ask people about what they see are trends in beach litter. A long time metal detector says ‘All I seem to pick up now is broken glass, dog S^&* and bottle caps’. One of the beach screeners says the amount of illegal fires and glass is increasing.. they are having a hard time getting the beaches clean and avoiding all the over-nite sleepers. Another beach cleaner says he can’t get his job done due to the amount of large items, such as canopies, boogie boards on the beach that he has to pick up. Another cleaner told me the lifeguards are complaining about the amount of bottles on the beach. My neighbor takes a daily walk out to the South Mission Beach jetty everyday and even she make a comment that everyone is drinking.

That said, it has become mayhem on the beach! Go to Belmont Park around 4 am and the ‘Rat Packs’ of kids, free-wheeling in the parking lots, large parties, drugs, drinking and trash is overwhelming. I attribute most of this to drinking as evidenced by the amount of liquor remains on the beach. At Belmont Park with 4 fire pits, 2 of the fire pits usually have sleepers. The other 2 are strewn with liquor. 90% of the 60+ trashcans are filled with glass bottles, liquor bottles, beer packaging, aluminum beer cans, plastic liquor bottles. 90% of the Trashcans on the beach contain liquor trash. Broken glass litters not just the beach.

I really hate to belabor this point, but it appears to be getting worse, the drinking and the glass on the beach. Many may say so what.. but the reality is this.. those people get in their car and drive. One of those drinkers killed our neighbor, another one side-swiped a car on the street by my house a few years back. Was drinking or drugs involved in the shooting at Belmont Park on August 12? Was this car accident due to drinking? Another person was arresting on suspicion of drunk driving in June.

Call the police… The San Diego Police Department is understaffed by over 250 officers and when you think that 600 of the current officers are due to retire in 5 years, where does that lead us?

I have been in contact with the police as we in San Diego have a beach team whose ‘sole function is enforcing the beach regulations (alcohol, glass, dogs, smoking etc…).  We are a seasonal team, working May through September.  I have 10 Officers, we work Thursday through Sunday 10 am until 8 pm. Two Officers are dedicated on a patrol boat conducting maritime enforcement on Mission Bay.  That leaves 8 Officers to patrol Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, all of the park/beach areas throughout Mission Bay/ East Mission Bay/ Fiesta Island, up to La Jolla, including Windansea beaches, Marine Street Beaches, and La Jolla Shores.  Not only do we issue citations, we make numerous arrests (Drunk in public, under the influence of controlled substances, etc) which takes the Officers off the beach for an extended period of time to transport/book people into jail and doing associated paperwork.  Not including the La Jolla area, Mission Bay Park consists of 4,600 acres, approximately half land and half water with 27 miles of shoreline.  We have a huge area to cover with the resources I have, as you can imagine, we can’t get to everything.  I understand your frustration when you see glass on the beach, illegal fires etc.  We will keep working at it.

You would hope that if the Lifeguards are complaining that they might say something, do something.. over the loudspeaker… No drinking on the beach, no dogs, no glass.. and you know, I have NEVER heard them say anything. This is their job description:

Lifeguards II positions safeguard swimmers at public beaches and perform boating safety functions around Mission Bay Park and the San Diego coastline; perform rescues; administer first aid; enforce aquatic and beach regulations and ordinances; issue warnings and citations and make arrests as necessary; clean and maintain lifeguarding equipment; instruct and lead the work of seasonal lifeguards; perform boat tows; perform marine fire fighting work; maintain records and write reports; and perform other duties as assigned. 

I get the fact that taking time out to write a ticket for littering or glass detracts from rescues. But it is a safety issue and they can do it or at least make an announcement .

I feel for the Park and Rec department, who are also understaffed and if they do not get to the parking lots by 6 am during the summer, it is almost impossible to really pick up the lot. One of the women told me that their first priority is to get the glass up.

This is a typical sight in the trash cans along the beach in South Mission Beach. More so at Belmont Park and the South Mission Beach jetty.

Once you see one bottle.. you know there are at least 5 more somewhere in the ocean, buried in the sand.

Lets not put in the trashcan..

The trendiest drink are the Rista, which is the beer flavored margarita mix. You only see 5 here.. where is the last one?

3 out of 4 fire pits had liquor remains… the 4th.. had over night campers.

Again… note the glass beer bottles in the trash cans.

Glass beer and beer can lying in the sand.

Just for a lark… I walked a 25 foot radius to put together all the bottles on the beach 9 Liquor and 19 others. 50% of the beverage containers are liquor.

As you can imagine, Saturday, Sunday and Monday’s are the worse. There are no beach screeners on Saturday and Sunday. It takes about 3 hours to try to pick up just Belmont Park.

Note not just the packaging, the amount of glass and other beer brands aside from Coors. The ‘canners’ have already picked though out the day.. this is what is left.. can you imagine how much more?

While Belmont Park is the worst, the South Mission Beach jetty is almost as bad. There are 4 fire-pits by Lifeguard Tower #10 and 5 Fire pits by the main Lifeguard Tower and 4 legal fire pits by the jetty rocks, 4 illegal fire pits along the rocks. 14-15 volleyball courts and a smaller picnic area. The metal detectors do not go there much… because all they pick up is bottle caps… that is how much drinking goes on here.

Meanwhile back at Belmont Park.. In plain sight 2 cases of beer packaging along with glass bottles. IN PLAIN SIGHT. This just tells anyone who wants to know, that drinking is legal on the beach and even if it wasn’t… it doesn’t matter.

Modelo is definitely the #1 beer found on the beach. One should not even know this information.

Fire Pit.. the others were taken by over night campers and a huge ‘brat pack party.. that was still going on at 4:30 am.

The by-product of this is more plastic pollution.. the packaging, the bottle caps, the Red Cups, the marijuana containers, the food, the people who are disgusted by this and won’t come back and the drunk driving.

To an extent, this is not just a police issue, it is a people breaking the law and not caring. It is a lack of respect for the ocean, the city of San Diego, the city workers who have to pick up, the other visitors and residents who have to see these unsightly mess. Many will just write this off as a global issue (we are not the only beach that has this problem), why can’t San Diego be a leader? Is there any members of our City Council that can assume a Clean San Diego stance? Does Belmont Park, the worst and dirtiest beach in San Diego care? Does the Park and Recreation Department have any employees left that take pride in their work? Can the 9 daily broken laws start being enforced? Will we ever have a Mayor who leads?

I am hoping that next year will bring some solutions to the above issues.