PANAMA CITY BEACH — Guns and drugs during Spring Break pervaded the day-to-day lives of Beach Police just as it did with county deputies, according to newly released crime figures.
The figures released by the Panama City Beach Police Department echoed the reports released earlier by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, and both set new records for the agencies in drug-related arrests and gun seizures.
In total, the agencies confiscated 93 guns in the six weeks encompassing the college holiday and made 507 drug arrests, according to the agencies’ statistics. Last year, those numbers were significantly less, with 38 guns being taken off the streets and only 201 people arrested on drug charges.
From March 1 through April 12, PCBPD responded to 13,301 calls for service. Those numbers increased from the 11,632 calls for service police worked last year. BCSO saw a similar trend, according to their figures. Officers responded to 6,138 calls for service while the previous year was 4,110.
PCBPD arrests increased from 1,219 last year to 1,332 for the current year’s Spring Break six-week period. BCSO arrests saw a vastly more significant increase, leaping from 324 last year to 1,091 this year.
In total, officers arrested 2,423 people in just a few weeks in Panama City Beach this year.
Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman did not return a request for comment on the increased figures.
Several factors could have contributed to the increases, such as more people making the journey to the Beach, changes in laws and a significant increase in police presence.
BCSO implemented a policy to book people on misdemeanors this year and established a six-man “sand patrol” unit with $150,000 they received from the Tourist Development Council (TDC) to place more officers on the beach. PCBPD also received $150,000 from the TDC for additional resources during Spring Break.
Officers from 13 different jurisdictions along the Panhandle were brought in to help combat the multitudes of party-seeking spring breakers, BCSO reported, similar to the type of response a major natural disaster would receive. Also, a new ordinance enabled police to approach people drinking on the beach and arrest them if they had no identification, where they wouldn’t have been able to initiate contact in previous years.
After a house party shooting at March’s end that left seven injured, both the Bay County Commission and the Beach Council approved even more funding for additional officers. The Beach Council approved up to $200,000 for PCBPD to police the dwindling crowds directly following the shooting. The Bay County Commission later approved a total of $148,000 for BCSO, including $40,000 to police a “Freaknik”-type event that was canceled. The funds did not make their way back to the coffers, however, according to officials.
Law enforcement received approval to spend up to $648,000 in additional funds to police Spring Break this year.
While most arrests increased from 2014 to 2015, several crimes were on the downswing. Police arrested fewer people under 21 in possession of alcohol and fewer people driving under the influence this year. Robbery, theft, hit and run, resisting officers without violence and public nudity arrests also decreased this year, according to police reports.