Bruce Gentner, a 70-year-old Whittier resident, has been running metal detectors along the beaches in Long Beach as a hobby since the 1970s.

A few years ago, he noticed a disturbing trend.

“We started picking up (hypodermic) needles everywhere,” he said. “We see syringes, knives, razorblades … lots of razorblades; tons of empty bottles of alcohol. We never used to see that.”

Long Beach, like many big cities, is facing a homeless crisis, and residents say the problem is especially bad along the beaches, where they’ve seen an increase in camping, trash, drug use and fighting.

The concern was heightened recently when a junior lifeguard stepped on a syringe near 55th Place and Ocean Boulevard.

City officials are hoping to tackle the issue as part of a new, comprehensive approach to homelessness.

On Tuesday, the City Council will consider an agenda item asking the city to work with homeless services, the police department, marine patrol and several other agencies to better address or enforce beach violations and determine the impact on residents.

The effort, proposed by 3rd District Councilwoman Suzie Price, would include ramping up enforcements for beach hours, drug and alcohol use, and trash and littering.

Price in her proposal said Long Beach, while it has a history of supporting the homeless, doesn’t want to go the way of other cities.

“The last thing the city of Long Beach wants is to follow down the path Orange County has gone where they ignored encampments for so long that when they finally did act, it spurred legal action and a much more significant problem,” she said.

The city needs to address concerns about drug use, safety and crime on the beaches as “more and more people are using our beaches for living or camping, which it is not meant for,”  she said.

Genny Hulbrock, president of the Belmont Shore Residents Association, said residents are concerned about the growing number of people hanging out on the beach at all hours of the night and camping in their cars along Ocean Boulevard.

While she’s glad the city is making an effort to address the issue, she hopes the multiple agencies can coordinate quickly.

“I hope there will be time frames attached and that there will be some short-term actions and longer-term actions,” she said. “We’d like to see something sooner rather than later.”

The city this year has announced several new efforts to address homelessness and has proposed considerable funding.

While Long Beach spends about $14 million annually on homeless services, it plans to add more funding in the proposed 2019 budget, which includes two new firefighters for the Homeless Education And Response Team, a new waste operations supervisor to support encampment clean-ups and $225,000 in one-time funding for a “proactive homeless initiative.”

That comes on top of $12.3 million in state funding for Long Beach’s homeless initiative and $3.4 million in capital funding for a year-round homeless shelter.

Sitting on the grass near the Alamitos Beach volleyball courts on Friday, Sarah Stover, 38, said she’s been homeless since 2016 after fleeing a dangerous living situation.

Stover used to sleep near City Hall but said she moved to sleeping on the beaches at night because it was safer.

She said she recently began staying at the Project Achieve shelter in Downtown and hopes to find a permanent home through the agency, which is run by Catholic Charities.

“I’m just trying to find housing I can afford,” she said.

The City Council will discuss the issue in its regular meeting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at 333 W. Ocean Blvd.