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Opinion

Fireworks Illegal In Long Beach...Who Forgot To Get The Memo?

By Dan Pressburg



(July 7, 2013, updated 12:10 p.m.) -- Welcome to the Warzone circa 2013.

Cut, cut, cut police. Threaten to reduce fire paramedics to one per ambulance and replace them with a technician.

Thursday evening wasn't an Independence Day Celebration in North Long Beach, or for that matter anywhere in Long Beach. It was a anarchistic war zone that was far from a celebration of the 237th year of the Declaration Of Independence from England and King George.

Through no fault of their own, the Long Beach Police Department was out-manned and out-gunned this fourth.

The sad part for me is my Grandson was hit in the face in a nearby community with one of those illegal fireworks (second Degree burns) and there is no one who is accountable. Monday, no Tuesday he will again be visiting the children's burn ward at USC because they have to remove the scab / skin so there won't be any infection.

This will be an ongoing process until the new skin will grow back hopefully and prayerfully.

So, folks let's spend another year cutting police across the board and pray that not so many retire so we will have enough to deal with the mean streets of Long Beach. Let's hope that this next election we can understand what a production based budget or zero base accounting is all about.

So, here's my observance since I have had a few moments to calm down.

We cut the Thin Blue Line to zip. We tie the Police Chief's hands and only give him overtime. We force Fire Chief Mike Duree to consider limiting our Paramedics with something that has never been tried in this county and most of Southern California. The experiment is supposed to be good when we don't have the manpower now and we're asking to limit service and tie up Paramedic units at the hospital when they could be on the road leaving a Paramedic behind. EMTs just do not have Paramedic training. EMTs just do not have training as a firefighter either.

The 4th of July has been a hairy situation over the years but never like it was this year. I spent half the night wetting down plants and the roof of my home so when the lit bottle rockets hit my roof they didn't catch fire. My usually good neighbors not only took advantage of the situation but we had to deal with it until 1:20 a.m. or so because they just couldn't get enough.

Yes, calling the police was a futile effort. There was no way we got to see police car one up here in North Long Beach. Just No Way.

The practical admission that we don't have services here or enough police was painfully obvious and visible all evening on the fourth of July in North Long Beach. There just was not enough manpower to go around even with the Sheriff and Highway Patrol attempting to fill in as back up.

This Fourth of July is why cuts aren't working, it is why it hasn't worked and why it doesn't work.

Just look, finally this year we get a replenishment Police Academy class, which won't produce new rookie officers until near year's end...by which time more officers will exit.

Woo Hoo, if we had done the right thing, there would have been more police available not just this year but a couple of years ago. If we had done the right thing we could have had graduates on the street a couple of years ago.

If we had just done the right thing I wouldn't be writing this. So really, Enough Is Enough!!!

So this is why I am screaming about more Cops Now, and why have I been screaming it over the years. No one should have to experience crime throughout the city just because City Hall thought it was smart to leave taxpayers with limited enforcement. Again, there just aren't enough officers to go around.

Technology doesn't stop the fireworks violations. Technology doesn't stop and protect a child in danger. Technology is only as good as the manpower that is available to man it.

Just remember you can never do more with less. You can only do the maximum that less will let you do. This why there is a lack of services in our own backyard. This is also why we have no shotspotter to at least have a direction to catch people discharging weapons at others. This is also why innocent children get caught in the crossfire when weapons are fired throughout the city.

[Updated text] The streets in a nearby community weren't safe for a six year old to enjoy the Fourth of July and his Independence Day, peacefully...but it is also why calling the police from his granddad's house amid statewide illegal roman candles and bottle rockets in North Long Beach was an exercise in futility.

[The text above is updated to note that Mr. Pressburg's grandson was injured in a nearby community.]



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