Authorities Press to Silence Drum Circle

Laguna Beach police and county parks officials met with leaders of the Full Moon Drum Circle recently to move or end the long-running tradition at Aliso Beach that was set to reconvene Saturday, April 3, even as spring break crowds have inundated local beaches for the past two weeks.

Laguna Beach resident Billy Fried, who founded the circle 15 years ago and has sent out monthly email reminders to a list when the orb is full, sent a missive earlier than usual this week with an unexpected final message.

“While I know of no laws being broken by gathering in a public space to drum during hours when the beach is open, and no disturbing the peace complaints have been filed, I will no longer be notifying anyone of the time/date of the next drum circle,” he wrote. “Whether you choose to continue to attend is up to you.”

A week earlier, Laguna Beach police representatives Joe Torres and Jim Beres and OC Park officials met with Fried to explore ways to move, modify or just close the drum circle because of the stress it is putting on the beach, the parking lots, and public safety, Fried said.

OC Park spokeswoman Marisa O’Neil said the discussion included ways the event could be managed more safely. Fried said there were no preventative measures outlined other than alternate locations, which he described as unrealistic. One lacked parking while at the other parking was too costly, he said, declining to identify the spots. Instead, he agreed to inform drummers that authorities wanted the circle to disperse.

Police cited noise, citations issued for alcohol on the beach and a woman who was hit by a car while crossing Coast Highway after leaving the drum circle last May as their concerns, Fried said.

Police Sgt. Tim Kleiser on Wednesday denied that police are responsible for breaking up the drum circle. “The choice to stop was the organizer,” said Kleiser, who during previous duties as a watch commander encountered double-parked cars in Aliso’s public lots and people drinking liquor on the beach during drum circles.

“It’s a balance thing,” Kleiser said. “The core are very polite. It’s when there is a large group where you get a problem. It’s the mob mentality.”

Even so, he could site no specific instance of unruliness from the drum circle, only occasional noise complaints from a nearby homeowner. Even so, that homeowner never filed a formal complaint, which could have led to a citizen’s arrest, Kleiser said.

“It’s a lawful assembly at a public park,” pointed out Jerry Bloch, a Laguna Niguel attorney and drum circle regular. He pointed out that noise complaints, parking violations and even car collisions with pedestrians happen elsewhere in town. “None of those reasons are viable enough to shut down something,” said Bloch, who believes authorities are grasping for a rationale to regulate an organic gathering.

Despite denials by police and park rangers over closing the circle, “their actions contradict that,” Bloch said.

Last July, police and park rangers pre-emptively closed off public parking lots at Aliso due to predictions of a large turnout for a weekend drum circle, which drummers say created a public safety hazard by forcing participants to walk along the highway.

Bloch admits his own enthusiasm has ebbed as the circle around the fire pit bulged from word of mouth and social media. “A lot of people who I drum with don’t like it because it’s grown; it’s harder to hear,” he said, and follow the leader’s rhythm.

And Fried lamented, too, that the drum circle, whose participants ranged from children to grandmothers, had lost some of its magic, a victim of its own popularity. “I personally believe that the summer circles have swelled to the point that an incident is waiting to happen, and the LBPD is doing the right thing in trying to prevent it,” he said.