Well-Deserved Peace in Surf City

It wasn’t that many years ago that spring break in Palm Springs took on the look of an English soccer game riot. These days, all is calm in the desert city when spring brings the college students into town.

Huntington Beach is on its way to that sort of status as well. The community that calls itself Surf City was known not long ago not just for its Fourth of July parade but for the follow-up riot. This year, residents and visitors were treated to just a fine parade.

As was true with Palm Springs, Huntington Beach earned its well-deserved peace.

Police flooded the city with officers and cracked down on alcohol-fueled incidents. Preparations began long ago, including the Main Street sobriety checkpoint a week before the parade, when police stopped more than 100 vehicles.

When Independence Day rolled around, police arrested about 100 people, far fewer than the more than 500 arrested in 1996. The city enjoyed a quiet Fourth for the third consecutive year.

As has been the case each of the past three years, most of the arrests were for public intoxication, drinking on public property or disorderly conduct.

Two years ago, police used a specially written law barring drinking even on some private property to make a number of arrests. But a judge rightly ruled that the law was so vague as to be almost incomprehensible and thus unconstitutional.

This year the city enforced laws that apply year-round, and did a good job of keeping the emphasis on fun, balloons, the parade and the beach. No more mobs running in the streets at midnight, burning couches and destroying other property.

The throngs who enjoyed the parade also got a look at Huntington Beach’s downtown, which has benefited from years of good planning. Pier Plaza’s opening several weeks ago was the latest example, providing an attractive lure to the water side of Pacific Coast Highway.

Huntington Beach endured several bitter Independence Days, the worst in 1995. But it spurred the city to take steps against recurrences. Like Palm Springs, it is on its way to making the bad days just a memory, replaced by holidays notable for peaceful fun.