Florida Police Contend With Violent Spring Break Crowds
In tourism hotspots from Miami Beach to the Florida Panhandle, sets of unruly spring breakers have forced law enforcement officials to impose curfews and compelled some nightlife establishments to close their doors.
On Sunday, police officials in Bay County, Florida, made it expressly clear that they won’t tolerate troublesome behavior from spring breakers. Their declaration come after a 21-year-old from Alabama was injured in a shooting incident in Panama City Beach on Sunday and last week’s shootings in Miami’s South Beach neighborhood, in which five people were injured.
“The crowd that has been here this weekend, there are no words that can describe the way they have behaved themselves, conducted themselves and the amount of laws they have broken,” Panama City Beach Police Chief J.R. Talamantez said, following Sunday’s shooting. “We are doing the best to manage this situation.”
Police were alerted that a large crowd had gotten out of hand just before the shooting incident occurred yesterday afternoon, and six individuals were detained. Officials said that they may be charged with attempted murder in connection with the shooting, the Associated Press reported.
At the same time, law enforcement officers seized 75 guns, which were laid out on a table in front of a news conference held Monday in Panama City Beach.
Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford told reporters that 161 people were arrested and booked into the county jail during what he called a “difficult, trying and dangerous weekend”. He pointed out that 78 of those arrested in connection with the incident were from Alabama.
“Each one of these 75 illegal firearms represents a violent armed encounter with law enforcement,” Ford said. “This weekend could have very well resulted in tragedy of a law enforcement loss of life, a citizen’s loss of life and even a bad guy’s loss of life.”
Panama City police Chief Mark Smith said that some of the city’s nightclubs voluntarily shut down on Sunday night after the weekend’s disturbance.
Officials did note that those people who’d been jailed weren’t representative of typical spring breakers. “These are criminals that came to our city and brought the guns with the intent to commit some type of act,” Smith said.
In response to questions about whether a curfew would be enacted in Panama City Beach, Talamantez said “nothing is off the table.” He said that law enforcement officials are still evaluating the situation and plan to meet on Friday to discuss the issue.
“I know the citizens are frustrated. Trust me, we are frustrated too,” Talamantez said. “The harsh reality is we cannot control who comes to town. But what we can control is what happens to you if you commit a crime in this town. We will hold you accountable.”