Waterford Police Step Up Beach Patrols, Crack Down on Drinking in Public Parks

The summer season isn't quite in full swing yet but baseball, softball, and little league season is—and that means ball parks are busy and beaches are attracting steady crowds.

Recently, however, town officials and Waterford Police Department have received a number of complaints from residents about people drinking at the town's ball parks and beaches. That violates a town ordinance prohibiting alcohol consumption in town recreation areas but, as Recreation and Parks isn't up to full staffing levels yet, it called in reinforcements to nip any bad behavior in the bud. 

After a recent meeting with Recreation and Parks, Waterford Police Department agreed, "We were going to create a partnership over the next several weeks. We would have a presence, including some special equipment that can be operated in the sand, and we would be on the beach to ensure compliance," said Waterford Police Chief Murray Pendleton. 

"We're very fortunate and appreciative to have the police down there to help keep it a safe place, to control some of the drinking and any excessive behavior," said Ryan McNamara, assistant director of Recreation and Parks. "It hasn’t been anything that’s alarming but we’ve heard some comments from people coming to our meetings. We want to be proactive for it this season, to make sure we get it under control."    

The extra patrols are funded through a federal drug-free communities grant which was provided to Waterford Youth Services. 

"It’s enforcement for what we identify as party patrols," said Dani Gorman, director of Waterford Youth Services. "The money is set aside in the grant to do just that."

Some of the grant money is also going to pay for additional signage to make people aware of the town ordinance and to encourage compliance. The five-year Drug-Free Communities grant funds media campaigns, public education programs, and additional enforcement.

This will be the last year of grant funding and Gorman said the Youth Services outreach and education efforts have had a measurable effect on attitudes toward drinking and substance abuse both among and around young people. 

"When parents don’t say anything against underage drinking, we find that teenagers especially take that as being accepting of it," said Gorman. "We do find it does make quite a bit of difference if they know it’s not acceptable in their home. It is a deterrent, it is prevention, and those are all part of our prevention campaigns."  

"Waterford as a whole has become increasingly aware of the problem and wanting to do something [about it]," said Gorman. "It’s become important to them and different agencies working together has made a difference."