The annual Independence Day Parade rolls down Main Street in Santa Monica on Monday, July 4, 2022.

More than 200 Junior Lifeguards, 15 to 17 years of age, jump off the Santa Monica Pier on Friday, July 1, 2022. The mission of the Los Angeles County Fire Department's Junior Lifeguard Program is to educate ocean and beach safety, physical conditioning, basic first aid, and environmental awareness while developing the next generation of lifeguards and future leaders.

Highlights from Pier 360 at the Santa Monica Pier on Saturday, June 25, 2022. Pier 360 celebrates the best of beach life with an awesome, FREE, all ages festival! With ocean sports competitions, live music, food and drinks, interactive games, sampling by some of your favorite brands and so much more, Pier 360 offers a peek into iconic SoCal beach culture and brings together thousands of guests for a day of good vibes. Whether you're hanging with the family, competing on land or at sea or partying with your friends–Pier 360 has got it all! Pier 360 is on Saturday and Sunday, June 25, and 26.

Personnel from the Santa Monica Fire and Police Departments conducted Active Threat Training at John Adam's Middle School on Friday, June 24, 2022. The objective of this exercise was to train our first responders and test their response to high-risk, complex, events involving multiple agencies and potentially multiple victims. Training on real properties, such as a local school, is critical for police and firefighters. The best learning environments provide hands-on experience dealing with live simulated scenarios. This intensive training allowed our firefighters and police officers to learn the limits of their equipment and tactics in an educational, non-emergency environment. Through this coordinated training effort, police officers and firefighters are able to hone their skills and sharpen their teamwork in preparation for real emergencies where seconds count. The Training Cadre utilzed simunitions and smoke simulations which look and sound real. Simunitions are simulated ammunition that are intended to allow realistic training using non- lethal projectiles that give off a sound. Many are already familiar with smoke simulations- a product that is used during movie productions and frequently during Halloween. Combined with the help of volunteer actors from the community, Santa Monica Police and Fire Departments aimed to make this training as realistic as possible to further prepare their personnel in the event of an actual active threat. Both the Santa Monica Police and Fire Departments are dedicated to the people they serve and protect. They immediately recognized the potential for passersby and residents to believe a real incident was taking place and looked for opportunities to alert those in the area. In addition to providing the surounding community with advanced notice regarding the activities, signage and additional staff were placed around the perimeter of the exercise to answer questions from the community. The Santa Monica Police and Fire Departments primary concern remains the health and safety of all residents and visitors to Santa Monica. This training was designed to increase our ability to protect the Santa Monica community.

Santa Monica Police officers eat gelato while meeting with members of the community during "Gelato with a Cop" at Ugo Cafe on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. The majority of law enforcement contacts with the public occur during emergencies or emotional situations. Those situations are not always the most effective time to build relationships. Coffee with a Cop aims to break down barriers and allow for relaxed interaction. Gelato with a Cop, aka Coffee with a Cop events are designed to provide an opportunity for the community to ask questions, voice concerns, and get to know their Police Department. The relaxed nature of this event is intended to allow Police Department to get to know the community, and for community members to get to know the officers who serve Santa Monica. The goal is to strengthen the relationship between the Santa Monica Police Department and the community. Coffee with a Cop events are now held in all 50 states and is one of the most successful community oriented policing programs across the country. The program has also expanded to outside the United States to Canada, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Latin America. The key to Coffee with a Cop’s growing success is that it opens the door for interactions outside of crisis situations that typically bring law enforcement officers and community members together.

Lead Instructor from Sustainable Streets, Justino Garcia, teaches adults to ride bikes at the Santa Monica Beach Bike Campus on Sunday, June 12, 2022. Sustainable Streets seeks to make active transportation accessible to everyone through individual-level training, public education and advocacy of complete streets policies. Sustainable Streets' long-term goal is for communities to adopt sustainable, active transportation practices that optimize their health and quality of life. They believe that communities must assure pedestrians and bicyclists at least as much safety and convenience on public rights of way as are currently provided to operators of motorized passenger vehicles. Sustainable Streets is a nonprofit organization that promotes active transportation, such as walking and bicycling, to help build equitable, healthy, and vibrant communities. All individuals deserve the opportunity to use active transportation in a safe and healthy environment, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, gender, age, sexual orientation, or ability. Sustainable Streets' mission is to make active transportation accessible through education and sustainable innovation. Sustainable Streets envisions streetscapes and transportation systems that harmonize community, nature and the human spirit, to support equitable social interactions, environmentally-sensitive resource use, healthy physical activity and overall wellbeing.

In honor of National CPR Week, Santa Monica Police Harbor Patrol Officers teach Hands-Only CPR at Santa Monica Pier on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Hands-Only CPR is CPR without mouth-to-mouth rescue breaths. It involves two easy steps: Call 911 and push hard and fast on the center of the chest. Don't stop until help or an AED arrives. Anyone can perform Hands-Only CPR and everyone should perform it if they aren't confident in their CPR skills or haven't learned conventional CPR. Hands-Only CPR is easy to remember and results in delivery of more, uninterrupted chest compressions until more advanced care arrives on the scene. Bystanders must take action when they see someone suddenly collapse and stop breathing normally. When effective bystander CPR is given immediately after sudden cardiac arrest, it can double or triple a victim's chance of survival. Hands-Only CPR can help save lives. Do not give Hands-Only CPR to infants and children -- all infants and children who have a sudden cardiac arrest need conventional CPR. Adults who nearly-drown or have cardiac arrest due to a respiratory cause need conventional CPR.