By JEFF LIPTON
The youths set papers on fire on top of an aerosol can on Wednesday, Aug. 6 at 9:34 p.m., making the can explode, according to Long Beach police. The fire was already out by the time police and firefighters arrived at the school, at 456 Neptune Blvd., and none of the youths, who were still at the scene, was charged with a crime, police said.
The incident took place two days after police received a call that youths were setting a fire in the yard of the school at 9:49 p.m. But that report was determined to be unfounded, when fire and police officials arrived and found nothing burning, authorities said.
Frank Ruggiero, assistant superintendent of Long Beach schools, said a security guard had been hired from 6 p.m. until 10:30 p.m., and a roving patrol drives around the school perimeter from 8 p.m. until around 5 a.m. to help secure school grounds. Ruggiero said most of the time a group of kids are hanging out in the school’s playground, sitting on the swings, and not causing much mischief. ”It’s just a lot of horseplay,” he said.
“When the kids who hang out see the roving car, they leave. As soon as the car leaves, they come back again,” said Ruggiero.
He said the school district pays $40,000 a year to station a guard on school grounds to help secure the property. The assistant superintendent said the school district runs programs until the evening hours, but kids should not be hanging around school grounds unless they are enrolled in one or more programs. The gates are locked after the programs are completed at around 10:30 p.m.
Ruggiero added that the East School playground is gated, and that the youths were entering the property through a hole in the chain-link fence. “There is a breach in the gate and we are in the process of repairing it,” he said.“That’s where they are coming in from.”
He said they have had problems at other district schools as well, such as West Elementary School and Lindell Boulevard School. “That’s why we put in the roving patrol,” Ruggiero said. “When we chase kids away from the East building, they go to another one of our school buildings.”
At times, Ruggiero said, he has witnessed 10 to 25 kids ages 12 to 14 gathered on school grounds at night. “I never witnessed any act of violence or aggression,” he said.
Ruggiero also said the problem extends to the streets surrounding school property.
“We could only do something about it if they are hanging out on school grounds,” Ruggiero said. “We can’t do anything if they are hanging out on the street. We can’t control the issues on the public streets. At that point, it becomes a police issue.
“This is a cooperative effort between all parties — the police, community and the school. We’ve done all we can for our property and our programs,”
Ruggiero said. “But this involves a larger cooperative effort. Kids are kids. If they don’t have a place to go at night, they will hang out somewhere.”
Lt. Bruce Meyer, a Long Beach Police Department spokesman, said police will continue to pay additional attention to the property around the school.
“If something like this is brought to our attention, we will act upon it,” said Meyer. kids, you will have these kinds of problems here and there,” said Meyer. “It’s not out of the ordinary.”
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