Revelers Prompt Night Patrols Along Mulholland

Noisy all-night parties, illegal campfires and vandalism at three Mulholland Drive overlook points have prompted officials to crack down by towing and ticketing cars that park illegally when the sites are closed.

“It used to be you’d come up here to lover’s lane with your girl and a beer and the biggest problem would be a bottle on the ground. But now we’ve got gang graffiti and other hazards,” said Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

Since the conservancy opened the overlook points in 1984, which include parking spaces and information displays, what for years had been informal road turnouts gradually have turned into late-night rallying spots for rowdy youths, Edmiston said.

The Fryman Canyon, Universal City and, especially, Hollywood Bowl overlooks attract up to 30 cars on weekend nights. Homeowners along Mulholland Drive complain that the noise keeps them up and that the raucous behavior frightens them.

With Los Angeles Police Department patrol forces stretched thin, Edmiston said the Conservancy hired State Police officers to patrol the sites, issuing parking tickets and enforcing state laws that make it a misdemeanor to violate the posted conditions, such as staying in the area after dark.

Four privately owned tow trucks are to make rounds of the sites every half hour. patrols began Friday night and will continue for the next three weekends. After that officials said, patrols will not be announced.