Panama Joes is operating as they serve residents on Nov. 12. along with sports being showed. The bar is set to voluntarily close at midnight until after Dec. 7, along with three other bars. Jorge Hernandez | Long Beach Current

Long Beach city officials will explore ways to increase late-night safety in Belmont Shore following an increase in crime and resident concerns. 

Councilmember Kristina Duggan had suggested imposing a curfew on Second Street, but retracted this during Tuesday’s city council meeting. 

Despite no curfew set in place, four bars will be voluntarily closing at midnight until after Dec. 7: Panama Joe’s, Shannon’s Bayshore Saloon, Dogz Bar & Grill and Legends Restaurant & Sports Bar. 

“The fact that the four bars and actually more businesses that are open on Second Street till 2 a.m., including liquor stores, have agreed to a 30-day voluntary closing at midnight, is bigger than a temporary solution that we would have gotten,” Duggan said in an interview with the Current. 

The late-night safety concerns come after multiple incidents over the past few years, including an altercation last month that resulted in the shooting of 32-year-old Jeremy Anthony Spears outside the 100 block of La Verne Avenue. 

“Over the past few years, since I’ve been in office, I’ve heard loud and clear from residents that late-night issues in Belmont Shore have intensified,” Duggan said during the meeting. “They’re more frequent, more disruptive and harder to manage. I live in Belmont Shore too; I’ve seen the change firsthand.”

Duggan said she spent last Friday night on Second Street from 11 p.m. to almost 1 a.m. with one of her staff members to take a firsthand look.

“There were hundreds of people on the sidewalks and in the street,” Duggan said. “I counted at least 20 opened alcoholic containers while I was walking.”

In an interview with the Current, Heather Kern, executive director of the Belmont Shore Business Association, said that following the pandemic, they have observed an increase in uninvited businesses, including people playing amplified music on the street, pop-up food sales and unauthorized retail vendors.

“We think that that has really increased the amount of activity outside of the bars,” Kern said. “And it’s an unfortunate consequence that the bars are sort of on the line for this.”

Kern said the association is very thankful to Councilmember Duggan for taking these issues to the council. 

Duggan is asking the council for a safety plan that would include:

DUI enforcements that are aligned with peak bar times 
An increase in Long Beach Police Department on-foot patrolling 
An enhanced, targeted late-night enforcement of nuisance issues that include public drinking and unauthorized vendors 

During the meeting, several community members called for additional police presence, to which Long Beach City Police Chief Wally Hebeish responded that police have already been working mandatory overtime for nearly two years. 

“What we are seeing now in Belmont Shore in terms of crime statistics shows a reduction in crime, a reduction in the number of homicides … for the entirety of the East [Patrol] Division, we’ve had two [of them],” Hebeish said. “We had seven last year; that’s a significant reduction as well. So while there’s a reduction, we are here to hear from obviously all of you and our community members.”  

Duggan said there isn’t a budget issue when it comes to the need for police officers.

“The city of Long Beach has the budget; if 100 police officers who were qualified came to Long Beach, they could be hired because we have the budget,” Duggan said. “It’s a matter of other cities needing officers.”

Duggan said she will continue to meet with the chief of police to discuss the prospective safety plan. The council is set to return with updates on a plan for Belmont Shore in 45 days. 

“We can’t wait until 45 days to implement [a safety plan],” Duggan said. “And the chief of police, Chief Hebish and Commander Benson already have plans in place. It’s just more formalizing [the plan].”

Duggan also acknowledged that Second Street has been a staple for Long Beach State student nightlife. 

“We just want to keep it safe for all students; I think being aware of what’s going on is very important,” Duggan said. “Second Street has that history for students and young people to go out and have fun, so we don’t want to take away from that. We just need to take a pause right now to make sure everything stays safe and [we] formalize the operations to keep it safe.”