Police Plan on Safe, Sane July Fourth

Patriots and party-goers will celebrate the 221st anniversary of American independence Friday, but police in at least two Orange County cities worry that they’ll be fighting their own war on the holiday.

Huntington Beach and Newport Beach police have asked for help from the Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol and have drawn up plans to avert riots, fires and injuries that have marred July 4 in previous years.

“You have to plan for a worst-case scenario,” said Police Lt. Jon Arnold of Huntington Beach, where about 350,000 people are expected to celebrate downtown.

The zero-tolerance policy against drinking in public is back this year, but only downtown. If you’re going to drink outside on your own property, there must be some sort of permanent barrier between you and the rest of the world.

Arnold said his officers will block streets downtown from 1 p.m. Friday until 2 a.m. Saturday. The barriers may be removed sooner if the area is calm.

Only residents with identification will be allowed to drive autos or ride bicycles past the barricades. Their guests need to arrive before 1 p.m. or walk into the area, Arnold said.

“One person on a bike isn’t a problem,” he said. “But you multiply that by 500 and it is.”

Arnold said buses that normally travel Main Street downtown will instead go down Lake Street, which is a block east, during the city’s 10 a.m.-to-noon parade. Those headed to watch the 7 p.m. fireworks at Huntington Beach High School can park on side streets, in the Main Street parking garage or in the lots along Pacific Coast Highway.

Previous Independence Day celebrations in Huntington Beach have featured battles between police and drunken youths throwing rocks and bottles and setting furniture ablaze in the street. Last year, police arrested 549 people.

Some residents said officers went too far, but others said it was the first Independence Day in several years on which they felt safe in walking downtown at night. Arnold said it was the first Fourth without a fire, disturbance or injury, so officers are using a similar plan this year.

Huntington Beach police said about 60% of the people they arrested last Independence Day were from out of town.

“They came here to participate in what they thought was an annual disturbance,” Arnold said. “The effort is to send the message to these people from outlying areas: ‘Last year was not a fluke.’ ”

Huntington Beach Police Chief Ronald E. Lowenberg said he hopes the city’s celebration someday will be calm enough that some of his officers will get to spend the holiday with their families.

“I haven’t had a Fourth of July off in 26 years,” Police Capt. Chuck Poe said.

In Newport Beach, police are recommending that people park in Costa Mesa and ride bikes into Newport, said Police Sgt. John Desmond.

“The only way to get around is on a bicycle. It’s a zoo,” Desmond said.

Police will try to maintain some semblance of calm by keeping people out of “the War Zone,” as west Newport is known.

At noon, police will close the peninsula to cars from 32nd Street to Prospect Avenue. Seashore Drive will be closed even to pedestrians and bikes.

It is these areas in which, on past Independence Days, drunks have party-hopped and shot off bottle rockets. This year, though, police plan to cite or arrest anyone drinking on the street and will break up parties judged to be a disturbance.

But partying is a pastime in the War Zone and not everyone is willing to break with tradition just because every cop in Newport Beach will be on patrol Friday.

Ryan Haeger, 27, knows what to expect on the Fourth of July. In the three years he has made west Newport his home, he has seen drunken bicyclists, watched revelers fire off illegal smoke bombs and then seen them carted off to jail.

So, what does he have on tap for the Fourth? “I’m havin’ a kegger, dude,” he said with a smile. “There will be parties all over the place.”

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The Party Lines

Huntington Beach and Newport Beach police will close parts of their cities to traffic during the Independence Day holiday. In downtown Huntington Beach, traffic will be restricted from 1 p.m. Friday, July 4, to 2 a.m. Saturday. Newport Beach restrictions, which also apply to residents, begin at noon Friday and continue until early the next morning.

Sources: Police departments; Researched by STEVE CARNEY and HOPE HAMASHIGE/For The Times