LAPD Beach Patrol: Too Close for Comfort

The creepy, peepy LAPD beach patrol is at it again. Once satisfied with making their presence known by cruising near the bike path, the beach cops are back for a second season of wheeling their Toyota 4-Runners around beach blankets near the ocean’s edge, up close and way too personal. They were back at it on June 3, between Venice and Washington boulevards. Forget about probable cause. There were no dogs to ticket; there was no gang-related activity. No one was drinking alcohol among the folks out for an afternoon of fun in the sun. Not a clue that a possible terrorist disguised as a sunbather had a semiautomatic stuffed in his or her Speedo or two-piece. Yet here came the cops, zigzagging in and out of the beach blankets, driving within six feet of the presumed innocent as they silently snooped through dark glasses.

Intimidating? Do the math: nearly 6,000 pounds of man and machine bearing down on a prone, 120-pound babe in a bikini. Tire tracks are ample evidence of voyeurism at work.

Michael Linder

Venice