This Fourth is less fierce in West Newport

Deirdre Newman

The traditional “war zone” atmosphere on the Fourth of July was

replaced by a a more mellow ambience this year.

Arrests decreased from last year, and most of those arrested were

out-of-towners, police officials said.

“The general consensus seemed to be [that] a lot of the partygoers

were not quite as agitated or on edge as in previous years,” Newport

Beach Police Sgt. Mark Everton said. “The overall mood tended to be

more subdued than before.”

During the “safety enhancement zone,” which lasted from 12:01 a.m.

Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday between 32nd Street, Newport Boulevard,

Coast Highway and 54th Street, there were 103 arrests, Everton said.

During the same period last year, there were 154 arrests.

In their effort to crack down on crime and public drunkenness,

city officials created new rules and tripled some fines. They also

conducted a comprehensive outreach campaign to educate residents.

It paid off, Mayor Steve Bromberg said.

“Needless to say, we were successful with getting the word out,”

Bromberg said. “Apparently, it worked. Quite frankly, we didn’t know

what to expect, but it seemed like a lot of people were having a

really good time.”

The breakdown of arrests shows that 62 people were arrested on

suspicion of public intoxication, Everton said. Of those, only nine

were local, he added. There were also three

driving-under-the-influence arrests and two arrests on suspicion of

biking under the influence, and none of those were local, Everton

said. Three were arrested on suspicion of possessing alcohol as a

minor, and none of those were local, either.

More than 200 officers from 10 agencies patrolled the area,

allowing them to have four officers on every street.

Bromberg said he visited West Newport with Lt. John Klein at about

10:30 p.m. Friday because he heard that’s when things grew crazy last

year. This year was different, he said.

“It was pretty much a nonevent,” Bromberg said. “Most people had

left. ... The only thing we saw was this really hairy guy on

roller-blades wearing a thong.”

Bromberg said he did not see any open containers during the 45

minutes he meandered through the area.

He said he awaits a full police report of the Fourth of July

arrests and to see how many people participated in the West Newport

revelry.

DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa and may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.