LAGUNA BEACH : Council May Permit Lifeguard Citations

To prevent the illegal removal of marine life from city beaches, the City Council tonightwill consider allowing lifeguards to cite beach-goers who violate California Department of Fish and Game laws.

Currently, when someone witnesses an offense, such as a diver taking an undersized lobster, a state warden must be called to the beach to issue a citation, a process that can take hours.

In some cases, lifeguard supervisor Mike Dwinell said, the warden never shows up.

“At least, it would probably take 20 minutes to a half an hour, and that would be optimistic,” Deputy City Manager Cindy King said. “Obviously, the violator may be gone by the time the warden arrives.”

The law under consideration would be unusual because it would make Laguna Beach lifeguards the only non-sworn guards in Orange County so empowered, Dwinell said. Laguna Beach has three permanent lifeguards who would be allowed to issue citations, along with the beach patrol staff hired by the city in the summer.

On state beaches, full-time lifeguards can take such actions because they are sworn police officers, said Patrol Capt. Mike McBride of the Department of Fish and Game.

“It’s unusual in this particular case because they are going to be taking their lifeguards and putting them in a situation where they can more effectively address a specific problem area,” he said.

McBride said the slow response from the state is due to the fact that there are too few wardens.

“We’re spread a little thin,” he said. “An hour-away response to a misdemeanor situation many times means you’re not going to get there when the suspect is still there. It’s a fact of life.”

The new law would not grant Laguna Beach lifeguards permission to search or seize the property of a suspected offender, and King said the lifeguards’ primary concern would still be the safety of beach-goers.

“We are not trying to put them into a police role,” she said.