JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — After issuing warnings to anyone promoting spring break events on Jacksonville Beach without a permit, the police chief is sharing the results on his department’s enforcement efforts over the weekend.
The department posted a blurred flier on social media for an event last week that promotors were circulating for a beach party. A portion of the police department’s Facebook post stated, “Zero Tolerance. No warnings. No do-overs. No second chances. Just some handcuffs and a trip to jail.”
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It was clear.
Police Chief Gene Paul Smith didn’t want this group partying on his beach. And for good reason.
Tuesday’s Jax Beach police social media post showed the unblurred version of the flier for the planned spring break gathering.
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“The same event was held St. Patrick’s Day 2024 by the same promoter,” the post states. “We are all familiar with the outcome of that day.”
It’s a day that will not soon be forgotten.
Bars and restaurants were shut down on one of Jax Beach’s busiest nights of the year after one person was killed and three more were injured in three different shootings.
No arrests were made.
“Now that the ‘event’ has passed, we wanted to share the ‘event’ advertising,” Chief Smith stated in a news release Tuesday. “The event this year was not an issue. Even though it was a non-event, we recovered four handguns ... from two groups of juveniles.
“There is no doubt that both Friday and Saturday our officers, along with mutual aid officers, stopped something really bad from happening,” Chief Smith said. “Of course, this was not covered by traditional media because nothing bad happened.”
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