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Police increasing patrols at this Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­beach due to safety concerns, drinking

The park board says they will reinforce that drinking is not permitted.
third-beach-drum
Lifeguards ended their patrol on Stanley Park's Third Beach early again due to safety concerns. People looking to swim should go to Second Beach. Photo: @schaaptop / Twitter

Lifeguards ended their patrol on Stanley Park's Third Beach early again following the long weekend due to safety concerns.

The Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­Park Board says the lifeguards will continue to end their patrol early for the foreseeable future. Locals hoping to enjoy evening swims on Tuesdays should visit Second Beach, which would be staffed with lifeguards until 8:30 p.m. as usual. 

"We will follow a similar approach for the foreseeable future; however, next week lifeguards will remain on duty at Third Beach until 8 p.m. for those wanting to swim."

While lifeguards will end patrols early indefinitely, the crowd at the drum circle on Tuesday (Aug. 2) "was much smaller than it has been in several weeks, with around 700 people in attendance," the park board told Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­. 

Lifeguards ended their patrol at 7 p.m. on Tuesday and park rangers did not report any incidents.

Drinking is not allowed on Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­beaches 

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­police officers and park rangers are at the beach to reinforce the message that alcohol is prohibited at city beaches, the seawall, playgrounds, sports fields, community centres, and various other designated areas, said the park board.

Drinking is permitted at 22 locations listed in the  pilot, however. 

VPD Const. Tania Vistintin told V.I.A. VPD officers will be in the area of the drum circle to ensure public safety.

Last week, the park board stated that there were three separate incidents at the "unsanctioned drum circle" in July and lifeguards would be ending their patrols at 7 p.m. 

On July 12, an individual was pulled unconscious from the water and lifeguards performed first aid until paramedics arrived on the scene. At the time of the incident, the number of people at Third Beach reportedly exceeded 4,000, the park board told V.I.A. in a statement. 

While it was temporarily postponed due to the pandemic, the weekly drum circle has seen thousands of people gather again since the restrictions have been lifted.