An Open Letter to the Pacifica Police Department

 

Dear Pacifica Police Department,

PLEASE START DOING YOUR JOB! 

It may surprise you to learn that Pacifica State Beach is inhabited by Snowy Plovers, a species protected by the federal Endangered Species Act, and that off-leash dogs are one of the primary threats to that species along the California coast. 

I monitor the Snowy Plover population at Pacifica State Beach and also monitor the number of dogs present, both on-leash and off-leash. As the table below clearly shows, compliance with the leash law is TERRIBLE. The situation is probably even worse than the table shows. First, I normally only monitor the beach from the Crespi entrance northward. Typically, however, there are more dogs at the southern end of the beach with a higher percentage of them off-leash. Second, I only monitor the beach on weekdays, and the dog situation on weekends is much worse.

A condition for the California Coastal Commission’s (CCC) Coastal Development Permit (CDP) that allowed the City of Pacifica to begin charging a fee for parking at Pacifica State Beach was that the city would enforce beach regulations. Those regulations include the LEASH LAW, and enforcing that regulation is YOUR JOB. In fact, my understanding is that the paid parking was supposed to fund a police officer dedicated to the beach 1/3 of the time to enforce beach regulations. SO WHERE ARE YOU? 

I realize that, as a concession to nearby residents, part of the department’s beach time is dedicated to the vitally important task of video-recording parked cars on streets near the beach. Maybe that task is more dangerous than it sounds, but it seems to me that it could be accomplished by a high school student with a camcorder, and doesn’t require someone with a gun, badge, and police training. Even if it does require a trained law enforcement officer, does it really account for all the time you are supposed to be spending at the beach?

I have also heard the excuse that it takes a lot of police time to process all the citations for parking violations at the beach. So, the CCC tells the City of Pacifica they have to enforce beach regulations if they want a CDP for paid parking, but all the police “enforcement” time goes to video-recording parked cars and processing parking citations related to the paid parking the city requested in the first place. Is that about right? And that leaves things pretty much the way they were except that the city now has the paid parking it wanted. Are you kidding? 

Please start doing your job and please start complying with the conditions of the Coastal Development Permit.

Sincerely,

Paul Donahue,
Pacifica

03 March 2016

 

2015-2016 PACIFICA STATE BEACH DOG LOG

DATE

TIME
(24 hr. time)

ON-LEASH

OFF-LEASH

13 November

1045 - 1230

0

7

26 November

1100 - 1145

1

7

27 November

1642 - 1712

0

5

29 November

1045 - 1145

2

9

04 December

1610 - 1650

1

6

08 December

1632 - 1705

1

4

29 December

1636 - 1706

0

6

31 December

1638 - 1737

2

5

05 January

1535 - 1651

1

6

15 January

1555 - 1644

4

14

17 January

0930 - 1015

2

7

19 January

1612 - 1728

0

5

22 January

1643 - 1733

0

5

25 January

1637 - 1734

1

5

05 February

1640 - 1720

4

9

08 February

0930 - 1130

3

9

10 February

1448 - 1717

4

14

11 February

1646 - 1729

5

8

22 February

1715 - 1813

1

8

23 February

1719 - 1813

2

5

24 February

1730 - 1806

1

10

 

cc: Joanne Kervabaz, California State Parks
Jo Ginsberg, California Coastal Commission
Nancy Cave, California Coastal Commission
Stephanie Rexing, California Coastal Commission
Lorie Tinfow, Pacifica City Manager
Sue Digre, Mayor
Ryan Olah, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Carleton Eyster, Point Blue Conservation Science
Pacifica Riptide
Pacifica Tribune