Laguna Beach Gays Ask for Late-Night Police Protection

Representatives of Laguna Beach’s gay community Monday asked city officials to expand police protection in late-night homosexual meeting areas, where three men have been attacked and severely beaten since June.

City officials responded enthusiastically to the proposal, which was presented in an informal meeting Monday night in the Laguna Beach City Council chambers.

“If it takes more money, then we need to go to the city council and ask for more money,” said City Councilman Robert F. Gentry, one of the first openly gay public officials in California.

Deputy Police Chief Jim Spreine pledged that his department would try to protect gays and others from random attacks.

“We’re not going to tolerate it,” Spreine said. “We don’t care who the victim is.”

Spreine said he supports suggestions from gay leaders that police officers meet with members of the gay community to discuss their concerns.

The City Council is scheduled to consider so-called “gay bashings” at its next scheduled meeting, Aug. 16.

The first attack in question occurred June 19 near Cress Beach, where a group of young men dressed in black martial arts costumes attacked and robbed two men. One of the victims lost an eye in the attack.

A second reported incident occurred July 14, when three young men described by police as skinheads attacked a Los Angeles man in Heisler Park--a well-known gay meeting spot--and beat him so severely with a pipe that he required 80 stitches for head wounds. A short time later, Laguna Beach police arrested three Huntington Beach men, who await trial on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

The third attack occurred July 31, also in Heisler Park, when a man identified by police as a local transient was jumped by three men and beaten and kicked. The three fired a gun, but no one was hit.

A fourth incident occurred early Sunday, when shots from a high-powered rifle were fired from across Coast Highway into an area near the Coast Inn, where a gay bar and several gay businesses are located. No one was injured in the shooting; police said they have no suspects.

At Monday’s meeting--the second of its kind in a week--about 25 gay community leaders and business owners emphasized to city officials the need for an organized effort to prevent a recurrence of such attacks.

Besides added police protection, the gay leaders called for a campaign to educate gays on what to do if they are harassed or attacked. They said the larger community also needs to be told about the problem with flyers and newsletters.

If menaced by people in cars, Spreine advised gays to jot down the license number and report the incident as quickly as possible to police.

Gay leaders such as Frank Newman--former co-chairman of Laguna Outreach, a gay community organization--called for more of a police effort to curb the problem.

Kirk Linville, current leader of the group, said that with stepped-up policing as well as increased education, “we’ll be able to stop this, maybe not wipe it out.”