St. Patrick’s Day has traditionally brought large crowds of bar hopping visitors to Main Street Seal Beach. In the late 1970s the occasion often turned into a rowdy circus and there were sometimes altercations between police and partiers.
Over the past decade, Seal Beach Police have displayed an early and heavy presence, which seems to have deterred much of the more unwelcome behaviors of the past.
This year the holiday is expected to draw even more people than in recent years, since this year the holiday falls on a Saturday, instead of during the week. This will allow more people to visit Seal Beach’s Old Town with its handful of Irish pubs and bars.
Seeing the potential for a tidal wave of visitors imbibing green beer and other alcoholic drinks, the Seal Beach Police are planning to keep the peace.
According to the Seal Beach Police Department’s Sgt. Ron La Velle, the city will have back up available from surrounding cities.
According to La Velle, Orange County has a “robust” mutual aid program. Seal Beach PD will have assistance from Cypress, Los Alamitos, La Palma, Buena Park and Westminster police departments.
Some of those agencies will be working on what is called an “Avoid” grant, funded by the state of California to support DUI enforcement. Seal Beach will essentially be a saturation patrol area.
Main Street will be closed and impassable from 8th Street through 10th Street.
While it is difficult to estimate how many people might attend this year’s St. Patrick’s Day, La Velle said one year a firefighter estimated there were 5,000 people on Main Street.
“We’ll be heavily staffed,” La Velle said. “There will be an unmistakable police presence on Main Street.”
The Seal Beach Lions will also do their part to help keep drunk drivers off the road. They will be set up at Main Street and Central Avenue, next to Walt’s Wharf, giving free rides home to people who live within 10 miles.
“This is our 11th year of providing free rides for those who maybe had a bit too much to drink on St. Patrick’s Day,” said Lions Bill Blatnik. “We use rented vans, set up a command post next to Walt’s, and have a great time people watching all day long.”
The Lions have hung posters at the various restaurants to inform people of their service.
“We will have over 50-plus Lions members offering services through out the day and evening. Since it is a Saturday, we anticipate huge crowds participating in our services.”
On the opposite side of the street, the police command post will be set up between Bank of America and Javatinis. The Orange County Fire Authority will also be present.
The beefed-up Seal Beach Police presence will be paid for by grant money and the St. Patrick’s Day enforcement will not cost the city anything.
The police will also be working co-operatively with Main Street bars, including the Irisher, Clancy’s, O’Malley’s and Hennessy’s.
There is also the possibility of rain on St. Patrick’s Day this Saturday. That could dampen the spirit of some of the revelers and could keep the number of visitors lower than anticipated.
Assistant Editor Charles M. Kelly contributed to this article.
