VIEWPOINTS
/CLOSING THE BEACHES AT 10 P.M.
Some Love It, Some Hate It / Share Your Thoughts
by Jaccqui Birchall
(click on images to enlarge)
The 10 p.m. weekend beach closures in English Bay have both supporters and detractors.
Constable Tania Visintin, Media Relations Officer with the VPD, advises that the closures are a City bylaw, not a VPD initiative and that the VPD is there to support the Park Rangers.
Patrolling the beach at closing time. (jacqui birchall photos)
The VPD further advises that the closures help to reduce noise, public intoxication, and other issues that can arise late at night. Drunkenness, disorder, fights, and sexual assaults have become more common after dark at English Bay, as well as noise complaints from people who live nearby. VPD officers chat with beachgoers, reminding them to take their garbage and encouraging them to seek alternative locations to end their evenings.
It is a long-standing problem. In the mid-1970s, I lived across the street from English Bay. The only time I could hear the waves lapping on the beach was between 4 and 5 a.m. The noise level was too high at other times due to party folk on the beach and traffic on Beach Avenue.
Constable Visintin shared a link from last summer to show the many incidents that police respond to on the beaches and in Stanley Park (see link below). Grim reading.
On two recent nights I headed to English Bay at 9.55 p.m. to witness the Park Rangers and VPD officers closing the beach. Both nights were very peaceful events. The Park Rangers start by closing the washrooms and changing rooms in the bathhouse. The rangers ride in two small vehicles, followed by police on foot, starting at the eastern Inukshuk end of English Bay and slowly moving down to the rocks at the west end of the beach.
When one man didn’t want to leave, police and park rangers quietly persuaded him.
The police are very low-key, slowly walking behind the rangers. Both nights, the beach cleared in moments, with people packing up on the now darkened beach. I heard no protests.
On my second night at the beach closure, one lone man appeared unwilling to leave. There was a lengthy conversation between the man, the Park Rangers, and the VPD officers. The man finally left.
On my first night observing, I was amazed to see that no disruptive teens were partying in front of the bathhouse, a normal spectacle in previous years. Dubbed the tunnel and bridge kids because it’s presumed they are not from the West End, the teens were frequently loud, drunk and disorderly.
Two years ago, there was an incident when some teens swarmed VPD officers. I chatted with several officers about the lack of teens. They explained that they had spent time focusing on the teens, who had finally repositioned themselves to Robson Square. Sadly, on July 21, the VPD released a statement reporting that a fifteen-year-old Surrey youth was stabbed in a violent altercation near Robson Square. He died the following day. Police believe the victim was stabbed shortly before 11.40 p.m. Saturday, July 19, near the Vancouver Law Courts at Smithe and Hornby. A passerby called 911. It is unclear at this time if the youth was returning from the Honda Celebration of Light. Police are asking for witnesses and dash-cam videos. Very sad.
On my first night of observing, the only activity in front of the bathhouse was a talented reggae singer and folks quietly grooving to his music.
I started to ask one officer what happens when the VPD leaves the beach. He interjected with a smile. Yes, some folks come back, he said. The public can call us regarding noise complaints after we leave. I commented on the peacefulness of the two nights I observed. Officers shared that it is not always so.
During the beach closures, the Cactus Club has a beach side lineup, emanating loud music, with the heat lamps on full throttle. As I head up to Beach Ave. near Davie and Denman, all the bars are full and loud. Both Davie and Denman are jammed with traffic, and young folks on Lime Scooters, with no helmets, are racing up Denman, faster than the cars, weaving dangerously in and out of traffic.
By contrast, English Bay Beach is dark and peaceful.
What are your opinions of the summer beach closures? Please share in the comments below.
