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Overcast LB police chief: No party on boardwalk this Saturday night
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Long Beach Police Commissioner Ron Walsh held a news conference Friday to send a message: There will be no "Sunset Party" on the boardwalk this weekend.
Courtesy City of Long Beach
Long Beach Police Commissioner Ron Walsh laid down the law Friday: Any party planned for the boardwalk this Saturday night — similar to the "Sunset Party" Sunday, June 27, when massive crowds gathered — will not happen.
"We're here to tell them the Sunset Party is canceled," Walsh said at a news conference at Kennedy Plaza, outside City Hall.
On June 27, some 2,500 people, mostly between 18 and 25, gathered for what they called a "Sunset Party" on the boardwalk at New York Avenue. There were no arrests, and the crowd left in an orderly fashion when the beach and boardwalk closed at 11 p.m.
But a shooting occurred sometime after midnight. Police found a 22-year-old man after calls to 911 about a person in an "alcoholic emergency." He had been shot in the buttocks area numerous times. The man was rushed to a local hospital and has recovered.
Moments before discovering the man, police heard gunshots on West Penn Street. Four men ran from officers. Three stopped. A fourth tossed a weapon into a bush and was arrested on weapons charges. Walsh said police are investigating whether the arrested man had been responsible for the earlier shooting.
Walsh has said it was unclear whether the four men had been at the Sunset Party, but he said the city did not want the same problems to erupt again.
Many of the party-goers, he said, were from Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and other areas, and were disturbing the peace for Long Beach residents who wanted to enjoy a night on the boardwalk.
He said word of the party Saturday night was circulating in private chat rooms, such as Snapchat, just as it had before last Sunday's event.
Brian Wells, president of the Long Beach police department's Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, criticized Walsh's handling of last Sunday's party, saying he had not properly prepared for it, which the police commissioner disputes.
This time, Walsh said, Long Beach officers will be backed by New York State Police, police from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and officers from the Nassau County police department. He said illegally parked cars will be ticketed and towed. Any bags brought onto the boardwalk will be inspected, as they were last Sunday. Loud music will not be allowed.
He declined to say how many officers will be on hand Saturday night.
"We're not going to tolerate this kind of behavior any more," Walsh said.
Asked why he did not just shut down the boardwalk, Walsh said he did not want to deprive Long Beach residents of using it for an evening out.
"We are trying to be respectful and responsible to the taxpayers," Walsh said.
He was joined at the new conference by two members of the Long Beach City Council, Liz Treston and Michael DeLury.
