Long Beach Police chief, PBA head at odds again

Worries that thousands of young people would mob the beach last Sunday night were for naught: No one showed up.

But there were consequences in the wake of the large crowd that turned out on the night of June 20: Long Beach Police Commissioner Ron Walsh and Brian Wells, president of the Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents city officers, were engaged in another dispute, this time over Walsh’s response to a shooting and the gathering of a crowd on the boardwalk, an event called a “Sunset Party” on social media.

Late that night, a crowd estimated by police at about 2,500 gathered on the boardwalk at New York Avenue, but dispersed peacefully by 11 p.m., when the beach and boardwalk closes. While the crowd was leaving, police said, they heard gunshots and raced to West Penn Street, where they arrested a man on a weapons charge.

Later they received a call about an alcohol emergency, and found a man at Edwards Boulevard and East Olive Street who had been shot multiple times in the buttocks. He has recovered.

Wells disputed Walsh’s claim that “the department was prepared and properly staffed” three Sundays ago.

“The assertion that the department was prepared and properly staffed for the event on [June 20] would be laughable if the consequences hadn’t been so disastrous,” Wells wrote in an email to the Herald.

Wells charged that Walsh “has been so focused on his Facebook page” and other matters that “he hasn’t even learned how to properly deploy his resources.”

Walsh, who has been the police commissioner since February, after serving 28 years with the Nassau County Police Department, flatly denied the allegations. “It is unfortunate that PBA Union President Brian Wells continues to try to exploit the public and news media to gain support for his political efforts,” Walsh said.

He wrote in an email that on June 20, “We held all of our day tour officers to work the event, we called our night patrols in early, called other members in on overtime, had additional detectives working unmarked patrols, staffed the street with extra supervision and had nearly all of the command staff working the event, including me. Additionally, we had the Nassau County Bureau of Special Operations (BSO, Nassau’s SWAT team), the NCPD Criminal Intelligence Rapid Response Team (CIRRT) and the NCPD Community Oriented Police Enforcement (COPE) team.”

Walsh added that the department had an armored vehicle and “numerous officers” prepared to deploy “many varied lethal and non-lethal tools to ensure our city was never at risk. In short, we have partners, and they were here and helped.”

In a phone interview, Walsh said he did not think his call for arms and officers three weeks ago was excessive. “I needed to see that the city was protected,” he said.

Wells said Walsh’s lack of preparation that night “led to a loss of control culminating with a gun battle on Broadway where a male was shot and my members report having bullets flying over their heads and into buildings.”

Walsh responded, “No gun battle ever ensued.”

Wells repeated his criticism of Walsh’s geographic policing plan, saying it has reduced patrol coverage by 50 percent in some parts of the city.

In response, Walsh wrote, “My executive team and I work tirelessly every day to update and reimagine policing for our city. I will not be deterred. I am committed to modernizing this department and creating the best possible police department that Long Beach has ever seen.”

Walsh and the PBA have been at odds for months. In April, the union cast a near-unanimous vote of no confidence in Walsh, denouncing his policing plan and what they describe as his “bullying tactics” around headquarters.

Walsh denied the bullying allegation, and said he had “complete respect for the professionalism of the Long Beach department,” and wanted to update some of its procedures and operations.