HUNTINGTON BEACH : Police Report on July 4 Disturbances

Police Chief Ronald E. Lowenberg this week defended police tactics to deal with unruly Fourth of July revelers that resulted in minimal property damage and injuries.

Lowenberg said that while “the critics came out of the woodwork” less than 24 hours after the melee broke out downtown on July 4, he is confident his department “did the right thing.”

“One thing we learned this year over ’93 is we didn’t hesitate at all when the crowd went from a crowd to a mob,” Lowenberg said. “If we would have waited any longer on our dispersal order, we would have had significant property damages and people seriously injured.”

Lowenberg, who gave a report to the City Council on his department’s planning and operations for the holiday weekend, said that downtown has become a place for “party revelers who have a mob mentality.”

“These people come to Huntington Beach to violate the law and cause civil disorder--and that’s unacceptable.”

Lowenberg said that despite public criticism of his department’s tactics and reports of injuries to bystanders by baton-wielding police, his force acted “quickly and decisively” to quell a potential riot situation.

Lowenberg said that to date, his department has received eight complaints of excessive force by police. In addition, three people have filed claims against the city, according to the city clerk’s office.

Officer Mike Corcoran, police spokesman, said that the investigation of one of those complaints has been completed. That complaint was filed by Allison Gonsowski, 17, of Huntington Beach, who alleged that she received serious injury when she was hit across the face with an officer’s baton.

“The allegation of excessive force was not sustained, based on witness information that the injury was accidental and not intentional,” Corcoran said.

Corcoran added that while the investigation has been completed, “it’s never closed” because “we don’t have the officer identified, nor are we positive we have all the facts.”

Lowenberg also said that this year, there was almost twice as many calls for service in the downtown area compared to 1993.

“The two reasons were that there were more people and there was cooperation by downtown merchants and residents who weren’t afraid to call the police. They felt very comfortable dealing with police officers,” Lowenberg said.

Moreover, Lowenberg said, nearly 54% of adult arrests made on July 3, 4 and 5 occurred downtown, which represents only 3.5% of the city. More than 200 adult arrests were made from July 1 to the early morning hours of July 5.

Lowenberg suggested to the council that a 10 p.m. curfew be imposed downtown next year. He said the 10 p.m. curfew now in effect on city beaches has been successful in curbing problems.

Lt. Patrick Gildea, who was in charge of tactical field operations, said the department’s use of a water truck to disperse crowds was effective. Gildea said that by using the tanks, police didn’t have to come in direct contact with people to separate the crowds.

Gildea, who made the decision to disperse crowds, said, “It wasn’t a rash decision. I know it was the right decision, and with the minimum amount of force we broke the crowd and there was no damage to businesses or looting. . . . I’m real comfortable with what I did. I was told to protect downtown and the people and the property, and that’s what I did.”