3 Beach City Police Forces Say Stations Are Outdated

Officials in all three beach city police departments, complaining of a lack of space, poor security and, in one case, the absence of showers for female officers, say their stations are outdated.

The city councils in Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach launched studies this week to determine just how bad conditions are, and union officials in Hermosa Beach fired off a stinging letter to the chief last month saying, “The condition of the police facility is an embarrassment to the department.”

Redondo Beach officers say they are so cramped that they store evidence in five sites throughout the city and have moved their investigative bureau across the street to a leased building.

The Redondo Beach station, built in 1959, is also a serious security risk, officials maintain. Suspects have escaped while being escorted into the station, and police employees are vulnerable, sitting behind huge glass windows overlooking Pacific Coast Highway, officials said.

To prove they need more work space, police officials in Redondo Beach completed a study that shows that each officer has 125 square feet of space, compared with a state average of 185 square feet and a nationwide standard that ranges from 175 to 235 square feet.

The Redondo Beach council Tuesday night hired a consulting firm to determine exactly how much additional space the department needs.

Manhattan Beach Chief Ted J. Mertens said his police facility was built more than 30 years ago, and despite remodeling over the years, is just too small to handle modern law enforcement. The station has antiquated jail facilities, inadequate locker space, a leaking roof and faulty electrical circuitry, he said.

On Tuesday night, the Manhattan Beach council authorized spending $50,000 for the first phase of a study to assess police needs.

In Hermosa Beach, officers said the station is so outdated that female employees have no showers and must walk through the men’s locker room to reach the computer room. In its letter to Chief Steve Wisniewski, the Hermosa Beach Police Officers’ Assn. also complained that 13 employees must work “in stifling conditions in the basement without air conditioning or even air recirculation.”

The city has renovated the main floor of the police station to improve the work environment and is considering upgrades in the basement, officials said.

Free-lancer Nancy Forrest contributed to this story.