The Santa Monica City Council has asked staff to explore a nighttime curfew along the shoreline after a recent spate of violence has rekindled debate about the safety of the sand during overnight hours.
At their Tuesday meeting, Mayor Lana Negrete, along with Councilmembers Jesse Zwick and Natalya Zernitskaya, requested that the City Manager and City Attorney investigate the possibility of establishing nighttime restrictions at Santa Monica State Beach in conjunction with various state agencies that hold sway over the shoreline.
“I think it’s time for us to look at a curfew,” said Mayor Negrete, who emphasized that the move comes in response to a disturbing pattern of incidents over the past two years. “We’ve had everything from murders, rapes, and even accidental deaths.”
The mayor highlighted particular concerns about beach maintenance workers who rake the sand in early morning hours, noting there have been instances where people sleeping on the beach were accidentally run over by maintenance equipment. She also pointed to a series of recent crimes targeting young women on the beaches.
“There’s a saying the police use - ‘nothing good happens after midnight’,” Negrete added.
Councilmember Jesse Zwick reinforced these safety concerns, saying that at least two, possibly three individuals had been run over while sleeping on the beach at night.
“It’s been quite endemic lately, in a way that’s very troubling and concerning to me,” Zwick said, suggesting that a curfew could be tailored to allow for activities like early morning jogging while still addressing the primary safety issues.
The proposal isn’t without precedent as some other coastal cities, like Santa Barbara or Huntington Beach already have rules governing nighttime access. Past attempts for regulation in Santa Monica have been rejected.
According to Councilmember Ellis Raskin, the Coastal Commission had previously indicated that a total beach closure would not be permitted.
“Personally, as a matter of policy, I’m not in favor of a total blanket beach closure, but there are serious public safety issues that we, I think, are trying to address,” said Raskin, who proposed narrower options that might satisfy the Coastal Commission’s concerns about public access while addressing safety issues.
Negrete clarified that the intent isn’t to prohibit public access entirely. “It’s not really a closure,” she said. “The idea is not to not allow public access. Rather, it’s to protect those that are sleeping on the beach. It’s for their own safety to not be run over in the wee hours of the morning.”
She also noted that the beach lacks proper lighting at night and that the Santa Monica Police Department can’t patrol the entire beach all night, creating conditions that have contributed to violent incidents.
Councilmember Dan Hall expressed support for exploring options while suggesting geographic limitations to any potential curfew, particularly around the Pier where trespassing and unsafe fire use have been reported.
“I would like to limit this to our operational needs, to lift our liabilities,” Hall said. “I generally don’t like measures that are simply tools used to make unhoused people feel uncomfortable in the hopes that they’ll go somewhere else. But I trust our staff and ourselves to tailor this in a way that addresses specific safety concerns while maintaining appropriate access to our beautiful coastline.”
The Council directed staff to report back with options that balance public safety concerns with the Coastal Commission’s requirements for beach access. No timeline was specified for when these options would be presented to the Council.
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