The now widely notorious surf gang of middle-aged locals, who keep non-locals out of the waves in ritzy Palos Verdes's Lunada Bay, were once allowed to intimidate people off the beach with impunity (allegedly), but a newly hired police chief is making a big show of breaking with the past and going after the Bay Boys. The chief's starting with their unofficial clubhouse: a stone fort at the bottom of a cliff where the Bay Boys meet up "to barbecue and chill." The humble-looking structure might be more than just the gang's picnic spot, though, says the Daily Breeze.
The roughly 30-year-old structure is now the focus of a campaign by the cops, who have received two letters about the fort that explained it "represents the Bay Boys' claim to control the point and the surf beyond." The letters also alleged that additions have been made to the stone fort. The police have looped in PV's code enforcement personnel, and they're working together to check out whether the structure's permitted and how to deal with it, but it's possible, says Police Chief Jeff Kepley, that the fort is a public safety issue. "The unique thing about that structure — and why it may cause a public safety risk — is we can't police it," he tells the DB."These guys are doing whatever it is they are doing and it'll take me 20 to 30 minutes walking all around the bay to get to them and they can see me coming the whole time."
The Bay Boys could be doing anything from strategizing how to verbally intimidate non-locals who try to surf the bay to divying up eggs that will later be thrown at people's cars. "I don't have a list of the Bay Boys and I don't know them, but everyone who hangs out down there uses that structure. That's my impression," says Kepley, who was hired in June 2014. It's surf season right now, and with the cops watching, it's only a matter of time before the territorial gang slips up. "I cannot wait to make an arrest, quite frankly," Kepley said.
· Palos Verdes Estates police keep watchful eye on Bay Boys [DB]
· A Rich Old Dude Surfer Gang is Terrorizing a Los Angeles Beach [Curbed LA]
· Police Finally Going After the Rich Old Dude Surf Gang That Rules a Palos Verdes Beach [Curbed LA]