Now home to shooting memorials, what happened at Seaside Park two decades ago was a model for the city and proof of why our policies are failing today.
EDITORIAL - Family and friends are mourning the shooting death of 26 year old Anthony Steven Loia. First reported by LB Report's Bill Pearl, Anthony was gunned down last night by police in an officer involved shooting near Seaside Park.
The Memo as was at the scene in the video here.
According to a statement by Long Beach Police Department, Anthony Loia was shot by several officers after refusing their commands. Officers say they responded to the scene in minutes after a 911 call that a man was pointing a gun at passersby.
Body cameras were worn by officers. In 45 days, the Long Beach Police Department is legally required to provide the footage to the public. At that time we may independently verify the Department's account of events.
The officer's swift response time was due, in part, to the recent surge of shootings not only in West, Central and North Long Beach but specifically in the nearby radius of last night's shootings. In fact, when The Memo arrived at the scene the night of the shooting, a resident informed us that this area had experienced several shootings in a short span of time. Sabastian Echeverry reports that in only a 5-block radius there have been five shootings in the area since the new year.
The Big Picture
The shooting of Anthony Loia occurred in Long Beach's first Council District. The first District has been the launch pad for leading Long Beach public servants such as Mayor Robert Garcia and State Senator Lena Gonzalez. Freshman Councilwoman Mary Zendejas currently serves the district.
For decades the area where the shooting occurred has been a hotspot for gun violence. But 20 years ago, the neighborhood surrounding Seaside Park experienced a public safety and quality of life renaissance because of a partnership between groups who in today's political climate are often at odds with one another.
At the helm was clergyman Jim Lewis. He was steering what would soon become his iconic leadership of local shelter, Long Beach Rescue Mission. Fifteen years before, the rescue mission was little more than a soup kitchen but Jim Lewis was a lightning rod with a broader vision for community service and transformation.
The need was apparent. The twin parks, Seaside and 14th Street, served as green space for all sorts of vice that make a neighborhood unwelcoming. The homeless loitered during the day and camped at night. Prostitutes and drug dealers completed transactions and violence was common place. This was no place for children to play.
Lewis promised the City he'd turn things around but only if politicians and police did their part. Elected officials, including the then council person, were initially resistant to join the efforts but Lewis and Better Balance Long Beach made an impact city officials joined in.
With the help of neighbors, elected officials, and police Jim Lewis was good on his word. The Long Beach Rescue Mission served as the winter mission for the city. Lewis himself was hands-on. He was known to motivate the homeless he serviced to keep their end of the bargain in the community too. He'd hit the pavement and gently ask them not to loiter in the parks during the day.
Lewis was effective because he built a relationships with the people he served.
The community came to the table as well. Better Balance Long Beach was responsible for assembling neighbors city wide. They hosted barbecues, clean ups, fundraisers and toy giveaways around the holidays. The toy drive that began at Seaside grew into the giveaway that's now hosted at the Long Beach Convention Center.
It wasn't only local neighbors and the Washington Neighborhood Association. Neighbors as far away as the 9th District chipped in as well. Dan Pressburg, president of DeForest Park Neighborhood Association remembers those days fondly. "All the neighborhoods got together with Jim to help turn things around at Seaside and 14th Street Park," Pressburg recalls.
What was unique about the factors that changed Seaside Park is that the police played a positive role as well. "Back then the Chief of Police had a community model and the community knew the officers," Pressburg explained.
The Department's politics and culture has changed and the City's top brass no longer value community policing.
Beginning two decades ago the community bordering Seaside Park was doing things differently. Even Chief Luna and Mayor Garcia made appearances at community events that were transforming the landscape near Seaside Park. With watchful neighbors engaged and the police playing their patrol and enforcement role prostitution, drug dealing and violence markedly decrease for years.
But when Lewis left the Rescue Mission and new political leadership took local office, conditions on the street and around the park worsened. The commitment to public safety had dampened as well. Then Councilman and now Mayor Robert Garcia had even failed to hold a meeting of the Public Safety Committee he chaired for nearly 18 months. By this time too, the police department had abandoned its community policing model.
The first District was changing but in the wrong direction.
So here we are today, with 6 shootings in only several short weeks and within a five-block radius of a neighborhood that was once a model for community partnership.
Ironically, the same week of this officer involved shooting, first District Councilman Mary Zendeja asked for City Staff to draft a report on how best to address the surge in crime and shootings. The cross fire between council members and the Police Chief was telling. Council could not agree on a path forward and bickered over crime solution strategies while the Police Chief made claims without data to support them. Listen to the exchange here.
During hard times, the past is often our best teacher. As fate would have it, the very scene of the latest Seaside Park shooting was, two decades ago, one of the finest examples on how police, neighbors and public charities can partner to overcome vice in our city.
It was hope and partnership that transformed Seaside Park those many years ago. It's hope and partnership that can turn our city around today.
God willing, someone's listening.