{"id":447183,"date":"2026-08-29T11:40:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T11:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/447183\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T11:40:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T11:40:19","slug":"long-beach-police-commissioner-shares-back-to-school-safety-tips-herald-community-newspapers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/447183\/","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach Police Commissioner shares back-to-school safety tips | Herald Community Newspapers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richard DePalma<\/a> is the acting commissioner of the Long Beach Police Department. He\u2019s spent nearly three decades serving in law enforcement \u2014 including 24 years in Long Beach.<\/p>\n

With the 2026-27 school year set to begin on Sept. 3, DePalma, who has three children, wished parents and students a safe and healthy school year, while sharing some back-to-school reminders and tidbits.<\/p>\n

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Q: What are the department\u2019s biggest safety concerns as students return to school? \u00a0<\/p>\n

A: Our biggest concerns are things that can hurt students quickly. We\u2019re concerned about speeding, risky driving, suspicious activity as well as bullying and threats. We want to create a safe environment for the students and staff and families as school starts.<\/p>\n

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Q: What will the police presence look like in school zones? \u00a0<\/p>\n

A: As school starts, you\u2019re going to see police officers near all the schools and in school zones. We\u2019re there to keep an eye out for suspicious activity. We\u2019re there to keep people honest when driving and to have people drive safely to enforce the laws. We want a smooth transition from the summer to the school year and make sure that people \u2014 children \u2014 are safe, because they are our greatest asset.<\/p>\n

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Q: What can drivers do to make school zones safer? \u00a0<\/p>\n

A: Keep your head on a swivel \u2014 kids are great, but they\u2019re not as fully aware of the rules as adults are. Be mindful of that when you\u2019re driving through school zones. Stay alert, abide by the law and make sure you\u2019re aware of all the traffic regulations, at and near the school, especially the speed limit. Obey all traffic control devices, all the signs, the crossing guards, when they\u2019re directing traffic and comply with their directions.<\/p>\n

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Q: What can students do if they see something suspicious or feel unsafe? \u00a0<\/p>\n

A: Go to a trusted adult. Whether that\u2019s a schoolteacher, a security guard at school, a crossing guard or a police officer, make sure you go to a trusted adult and point it out. Whoever that\u2019s reported to, should contact the police and let us investigate it.<\/p>\n

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Q: Anything else to add? \u00a0<\/p>\n

A: To the drivers \u2014 slow down. Follow the posted school zone and speed limits. Watch for kids crossing the street. Stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk. Eliminate distracted driving, make sure you\u2019re not texting or looking down at your GPS or your Apple CarPlay while you\u2019re driving. Whether you\u2019re commuting to work or dropping your children off at school, just be patient. Traffic is going to slow around the schools, especially in the school year. Make sure you plan accordingly and don\u2019t rush. There\u2019s no point in creating a dangerous situation because if you\u2019re late, you\u2019re late.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richard DePalma is the acting commissioner of the Long Beach Police Department. He\u2019s spent nearly three decades serving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[177082,131,133,132,129809,867,177081,58916],"class_list":["post-447183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-back-to-school-safety","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-long-beach-ny","tag-long-beach-police-department","tag-richard-depalma","tag-school-zones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}