Redondo Beach commissioners receive police and harbor patrol safety reports; new harbor response fees noted

Redondo Beach Harbor Commission members on Sept. 8 received quarterly safety briefings from the city police and harbor patrol and voted to receive and file the reports.

Sergeant Brian Weiss of the Redondo Beach Police Department told commissioners the department’s three-month stat summary covering June through August shows ongoing issues at the pier with graffiti, transient-related welfare checks and animal calls, even as some serious crimes have trended lower. "A lot of graffiti going on in the pier," Weiss said, and added that existing cameras have helped "catch a couple of crimes" at the substation.

Weiss read broader counts for the pier area: in 2024 officers logged 2,157 calls for service; crimes against persons were 45, disturbances involving transients that became mental-health holds numbered about 16, the department produced approximately 435 incident reports and made 50 arrests. For 2025 to date he reported 734 calls for service, 25 crimes against persons, roughly 10 disturbance/mental-health holds, about 190 reports and 43 arrests.

Weiss and commissioners discussed youth behavior tied to electric bicycles and to fishing on docks. Weiss described police outreach and prevention efforts, including eight bike rodeos that certified children in e-bike safety and distributed helmets, and multi‑agency enforcement sweeps with neighboring beach cities. He said enforcement alone is not sufficient and praised a mix of education, enforcement and small rewards for compliance.

Harbor Master Kurt Mahoney presented the harbor patrol’s first‑half summary, saying the patrol’s three most frequent call types were "medical aids, public assists, and mayday calls for the harbor patrol." Mahoney said sea‑life and animal‑rescue calls rose amid domoic‑acid concerns; harbor staff also assisted with marine mammal rescues and partnered with Cal State Long Beach on a shark‑buoy deployment in July.

Mahoney outlined harbor training and operational activities, including annual simulated boat‑fire training that uses foam lines and coordination with Los Angeles County lifeguards, and a February hazmat response in which a vessel hull filled with fuel and oil was contained locally with booms and later towed for salvage.

The harbor master discussed a revision to the harbor master fee schedule that took effect Aug. 1. Mahoney said the new fees apply to a limited set of response categories—personnel services, boat tows, submerged vessels and storage/impound—and that he had not yet seen a decline in emergency calls that would suggest people are avoiding service because of the fees: "The fees are instituted August 1, and I haven't seen any large changes in, like, call volume," Mahoney said. He and commissioners flagged boat tows as the category most likely to generate questions or appeals.

Commissioners asked about thefts from boats, dock access, and whether the harbor has seen more incidents around bars or docks. Weiss and Mahoney said major assaults remain uncommon in the docks community and that incidents tend to cluster around alcohol-related locations rather than the docks themselves; both urged reporting so police can track trends. Commissioners and staff also discussed outreach ideas such as youth fishing events, coordinated safety education with yacht clubs and schools, and possible regional collection days for expired marine flares.

The commission approved a motion to receive and file the public safety reports. The motion was made and seconded on the record; commissioners voted in favor and the motion carried, with no named vote tally provided in the transcript.

Staff and commissioners used the same meeting slot to announce upcoming community events and administrative items related to the waterfront: a one‑day floating water‑polo event scheduled Sept. 20, a public workshop on the public boat launch on Sept. 23 (City Hall Library, second floor, doors open 5:30 p.m., presentation ~5:50 p.m.), and recently approved leases including a second location of El Cinco de Mayo and an office lease extension for Gung Ho Entertainment. Commissioners also heard a farewell statement from outgoing chair Vicky Callahan, who marked 10 years of service to the waterfront commission.

Because the reports combined policing, harbor operations, outreach and the new harbor fee schedule, commissioners and staff said they would monitor statistics and community feedback over coming months and revisit impacts—particularly for boat‑tow fees—at future meetings.