[Photo courtesy of GerritsenBeach.Net]

It is something of a tradition for some local students to head to Manhattan Beach on “senior cut day.” This, in turn, has provided a great deal of local excitement in recent years, with some residents concerned about “thugs” and, even, proposing privatizing the beach and closing off access from neighboring Sheepshead Bay. GerritsenBeach.Net has chronicled some of the action and was on hand for this years festivities. In case anyone doubts the flavor of the day, the post is titled: “Civil Rights Are Dead in Manhattan Beach“:

Friday, June 6th was senior cut day for some local schools, and then they head down to Manhattan Beach for a day of sun and fun, but the past two years have been anything but fun…This year in anticipation of the return of the “thugs”, the residents have been demanding all year for a plan addressing “Senior Cut Day” and all that comes with it.

I saw an empty beach with a few small groups of minority students having fun in the sun. Officers then drove up to them and asked them for their ID’s. They complied and then the officers said they were going to run their ID’s. I saw this incident as harassing people who were doing nothing to warrant such a request. The students followed the officers to get their ID’s back and it seemed like they were being rounded up, to force them off the beach. That didn’t stop the cops from having a bit of fun.

I saw some plain clothes officers speed racing through the sand with their patrol vehicles. It was obvious that this was for fun because of the speed they were going. After doing a lap another officer would race around, this went on for quite awhile.

There is a lot more detail to the post.