Full Notification

Lomita Station family, we need you to read this. We need you to share this. We need you to let your family and friends know. Settle in. It's a long message.

The city parks and city trails are closed across the peninsula. There is currently no public access to many of the places you're used to frequenting. We are all supposed to be at home *or* traveling to obtain necessary services like food, medicine, etc. The "Safer at Home" order also allows for outdoor activities such as "hiking, walking, or biking" provided that those activities are done as individuals, or as families, and as long as they can be done while maintaining social distancing with other people.

With the above in mind, you do not need to, nor should you, drive 10, 15, 20, 45 minutes away from home in order to go for a walk. You should not be going to an area that is known for hiking, that other people will be going to, in order to become a potential vector for disease. If everyone decides to congregate at a trail or park, that defeats the purpose of limiting contact!

To this point, we have issued zero citations within our patrol area for violation of this order. We would MUCH rather everyone do their part and adhere to the order voluntarily. The order has a direct impact on the health and safety of all of our loved ones, and our neighbors, so everyone should *want* to do their part to limit the spread of the disease.

Now, here's the part where we have to get real with you. The fact that we haven't issued citations for violations of the "Safer at Home" order doesn't mean that we can't. It means that we PREFER not to. If you decide that you need to drive 45 minutes away from home, and drive around barricades strewn across an entire roadway to get to your preferred hiking spot because you are more important than anyone else, then you're getting a ticket for driving around the barricades. If you decide that you want to pick up a couple of friends and drive around aimlessly at 70 mph on Hawthorne Boulevard because the responsible people are at home, staying off the roads unless absolutely necessary, then you're getting a ticket for speeding. It seems like some people have decided that the current state of affairs means the rules don't apply to them, and it is truly disheartening.

The "Safer at Home" order is tough. It's tough because, for one brief period of time in our lives, we're all being told that we're grounded and have to stay home, and can't go outside to play with our friends. And it truly is WE. The people that work at the station are YOU. We are members of the community. We have to stay home when we're not at work. We have families. We have kids that are driving us nuts from being stuck inside for what feels like FOREVER. We GET IT. But this is truly one of those greater good things where we all have to take stock of ourselves and ask ourselves if it's really that impossible for us to put the good of others over ourselves for a few weeks.

We're asking, begging, and pleading with everyone to adhere to these orders by voluntarily doing the right thing today, tomorrow, this weekend, and until the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issues new orders. The sooner we, as a society, decide to stop being selfish and stubborn, the sooner we can get past this virus, and the easier those of us that are at risk for complications can rest in the mean time.

So please, if you've got to travel to go to work because your place of employment is still operating, or you need to acquire food, medicines, or everyday essentials, please do. If you need to take care of others that are unable to care for themselves, or shop for themselves, please do. But if you just *want* to get out of the house because you're going stir crazy, then take a walk around your neighborhood. Don't congregate at local parks or trails (again, they're closed). Don't visit your friend's house just because you're bored. You're unnecessarily exposing them, their families, or yourself or your family when you don't need to, and potentially prolonging the length of this crisis.

Thanks everyone! Let's get through this together.