Ucluelet's top cop calls on community to take back beach

Sgt. Jeff Swann is hoping to end the antics at Redneck Beach.

 â€œIt’s a crazy little situation that happens out there and it’s been tolerated for too long,” he said.

“People just think, ‘It’s Red Neck Beach, we can do whatever we want we can smoke, we can do drugs, we can get completely drunk and do stuff like that.’ Well that’s not tolerated. Times have changed.”

He said the beach—an accessible and sandy area near the Kennedy Lake Bridge—should be a prime location for families but families often avoid it because of the negative behaviour it seems to attract. 

 â€œIt’s a gorgeous beach; it should be a family beach...The beach should be taken over by members of the communities of Ucluelet and Tofino that want to take their family and children there and camp appropriately and comfortably,” he said.

“I would love nothing better than to make that happen and I can guarantee our police resources would be expended to make sure that would happen.”

He suggested cleaning up the beach and changing its perception could become a top policing priority but the community would need to step up and take ownership.

“That is one project that I would love to undertake but I need the help of the community,” he said.

“That is a beautiful location on Kennedy Lake that is accessible to us community members and, to get rid of the stigma of that place, we need people to take ownership of it.”

Swann is urging locals to report any suspicious or offensive activity they see at Redneck Beach to help police nix the area’s 'anything goes' mentality. 

andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca