York lifeguards back call to crack down on beach drinking: Town says it's not an issue

YORK, Maine — York’s lifeguards say they stand by York Beach Ocean Rescue Chief Jeff Patten, who has threatened to resign over what he calls “open drinking” on the beach .

Lifeguard Lt. Emma Dutil, 19, said that she submitted a letter to York Town Manager Peter Joseph this week, backing Patten’s claim that drinking at York Beach has been overlooked. She recounted instances of patrons bringing cases of alcohol onto the beach, with some even boldly offering her a drink while she was on duty.

“Clearly a lack of enforcement has allowed patrons to feel comfortable openly drinking on the beach,” Dutil said. “Even to the point where underage kids are being offered drinks.”

The letter was signed not only by Dutil but by the entire lifeguard crew.

Town officials have disagreed with Patten’s assertion drinking is causing problems on the beach. Police Chief Owen Davis said his department’s statistics do not show a high volume of calls to the beach over drinking on the sand, saying the Fourth of July saw 639 calls for service, only one of which was for drinking in public.

Dutil said the numbers are not telling the full story given what she sees on the beach. She said she hopes the town will listen to Patten by cracking down on drinking, or she said she may leave her job next summer.

“I don’t think I would come back if Jeff doesn’t come back,” Dutil said. “I care about the issue as well.”

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Dutil, a four-year veteran lifeguard, said she wrote the letter to Joseph working with her fellow guards on the message. She wrote that York Beach Ocean Rescue means a lot to her and that she and other guards take pride in keeping others safe daily.

In the letter, Dutil backed up Patten's claims that drinking on the beach has become a problem.

“We often get complaints from families with young children about the boisterous behavior that comes with excessive drinking,” Dutil wrote.

Dutil provided examples of how alcohol exacerbated situations on the beach. She described one instance of seeing a person swimming at an unsafe distance from shore, with lifeguards enforcing the rule that beachgoers must stay close enough to stand on the sand.

“A visibly intoxicated man stumbled out of the water, invaded my personal space, and aggressively yelled at me for calling him back to shore,” Dutil wrote.

She mentioned Patten intervened and helped defuse the situation. She noted that if she had needed to swim out and rescue the man, it could have been dangerous for both of them.

In a separate incident at Short Sands Beach, Dutil recounted she and another guard spotted a man swimming far out into the water, ignoring their rescue signal. The two guards took a rescue board and swam out to him.

“When confronted, the man grabbed onto and aggressively shook the rescue board while threatening to drown our guard,” Dutil wrote. “He emerged from the water acting belligerent and smelling of alcohol.”

Dutil stated lifeguards put themselves at risk by entering the water and “people who drink on the beach and make poor decisions force their staff into potentially dangerous situations that could otherwise be mitigated.” She wrote that she believes increased police presence is needed to help address drinking on the beach.

“It saddens and disappoints the entire staff that the town has not formulated a plan to address this issue,” Dutil wrote. “It’s unfortunate that Jeff has to conditionally resign from his position for this issue to bring about the attention it deserves to ensure the safety of our staff and patrons.”

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The town's Selectboard has not discussed drinking on the beach since Patten raised the issue this summer, though one person, Jenn Bachelder, wrote a letter that was read during public comment at the Selectboard meeting Monday night.

"Is there a plan being formulated to address lack of enforcement on our beach ordinances?" the letter read. "The regular non-compliance with them appears not only to be putting our lifeguards, citizens, and visitors' safety in jeopardy but also tarnishing the reputation York has as a family-friendly beach town."

Selectboard members did not respond to the letter, read during the board's second citizens forum Monday.

Selectboard Chair Todd Frederick stated he has not received any direct complaints about drinking at the beach. He said he trusts what police have said, that drinking on the beach does not appear to be an issue.

"I assume if it was a problem, someone would contact me or law enforcement," Frederick said. "We're not hearing that from the Police Department, and I'm not hearing that from citizens."

Davis said the Police Department does not have call data that reflects drinking is a serious problem. He said his department responds to every call reporting intoxication and works closely with lifeguards to address problems on the beach.

He said his department maintains a presence at the beach, partly through some officers on bikes. He said the department also has to cover Route 1, which is also busy in the summertime, and that officers do what they can to cover the more than 50 square miles of land in York.

“The allegations that we’re just waiting for something to happen is unequivocally untrue,” Davis said.

Davis said when people are confronted about drinking, they have generally complied and stopped. He said his department does not have the ancillary issues other communities have associated with drinking on the beach like fighting, criminal mischief or public urination.

“I have data on my side,” Davis said. “It is a family-friendly environment, and we are a great community to come visit.”

Patten said he wishes the town had taken more immediate action to address drinking on the beach since he submitted his conditional resignation letter on July 15.

Patten stated that he was not involved with the letter written by the lifeguards but expressed pride in them for speaking up. He hopes they do not intend to follow his lead in quitting. If he does not return next year, he said he would still continue to support and work with them.

“I have no idea what the town will keep me from doing,” Patten said, “But I’ll do everything in my power to be on this beach protecting the residents that swim here.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York lifeguards back call to crack down on beach drinking: Town says it's not an issue