Second District Welcomes LBPD East Division to Field Office

Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce announces Long Beach Police Department East Division bike patrol officers will take up home in the Second District Field Office. The officers began sharing the Second District Field Office space this week. Additionally, LBPD is adding two more bike patrols at Bixby Park and the surrounding neighborhoods. 

When elected in 2016, Councilwoman Pearce made a commitment to both open a field office and have more police presence to help with the crime in the park and surrounding area. In 2018, Council voted to add bike officers for Alamitos Beach and Downtown. The move this week is over-due and welcomed. 

“It is hoped that having police presence in the area will allow residents and police officers to communicate and build a partnership that improves the lives of all that use the park and live in the area,” according to Pearce. “This is a partnership that we have been working on since I got into office. I am happy to finally see it come to fruition and to know that we will have a police-community partnership.”

Bike officers were added to the 2019 budget and began training months ago, this week they officially began working out of the District 2 field office.  

“The police department is looking forward to having a greater presence in Bixby Park by partnering with Parks, Recreation and Marine and Council District 2 to create a staging location for bicycle officers within the facility,” says Commander Patrick O’Dowd. 

While crime is at a historic low, the presence of our police officers will help address both the issues of crime and provide more quality of life services at the park for those struggling with homelessness.