Sunset Beach : Crime Increase Claimed; More Patrols Are Urged

Members of the Sunset Beach Community Assn. have demanded that the Sheriff’s Department provide more protection in their neighborhood, which they say is becoming a favorite target for criminals.

Their concern increased this week when a Sunset Beach woman reportedly was raped shortly after dusk Monday as she walked in a parking lot after work. Residents say that crime, and the slaying of two suspected cocaine dealers last summer, are proof that things are getting worse.

Currently, Sunset Beach is one of three isolated county islands patrolled by only one squad car. Residents contend that the county islands are too spread out for one patrolman and that it takes 20 minutes, and sometimes 45 minutes, for an officer to arrive at the scene of a crime.

Residents said they hope to convince the Sheriff’s Department to add one more patrol car. A second option, they say, is a second contract with the neighboring Seal Beach Police Department for patrols.

“I know (the sheriff’s deputies) are doing the best they can, but there just aren’t enough officers,” said Neill Ketchum, former president of the association. Recently, she said, her husband, armed with a pistol, held a suspected voyeur for 45 minutes before police arrived.

Sunset Beach resident Jim Jones said the squad car “is like a Ping-Pong ball . . . . It bounces all over the place going to these different county areas.”

Chip Pope, owner of The Sunset Pub nightclub, said, “The only time we see the police is when the bars close. They act as if alcohol is the only thing to worry about here.”

Residents say the situation has been made worse by an increasing horde of beach visitors, whom they blame for an increase in crime.

“In just the past month, my place has been broken into twice,” said Laine Medina, an eight-year resident. “It used to be that I didn’t even have to lock the doors here. Now we’ve got bars on the windows.”

Lt. Dick Olsen, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman, said that although he sympathizes with the Sunset Beach residents, there are no statistics to support the contention that crime is increasing.

“I think they’ve got legitimate concerns,” he said, “but they’re going to have to show me some facts or statistics to prove crime is going up.” It is difficult for his department to compile statistics on one area of the county, he said.