We have all heard about the fights that occurred in Jacksonville Beach FL on Memorial Day. If you have not, read Battery and Fighting in Jacksonville Beach Memorial Day Brawl to catch up. A first video was released. Day later, a Second Video of of the Jacksonville Beach Florida Memorial Day Fight surfaced.
The Memorial Day brawls caused Jax Beach residents and business owners to fear what may happen in the future. The Jacksonville Beach Fights Cause Residents to Demand Protection from the police. Action News of Jacksonville reported:
The life guard tower is not the only one you will see on Jax Beach.
“The Jacksonville Beach Police Department isn’t taking last week’s massive Memorial Day beach brawl lightly. And Action News has learned police are now taking advantage of an old tool to stay on guard. The police lift tower is not new for Jax Beach PD, but it will see more action.”
The local police department used the police lift tower over the last weekend. The lift gives Jacksonville Beach police officers “a good view of what is going on [and] an overall view of the crowd.” It also shows police presence which may deter people from committing crimes. Sgt. Tommy Crumley commented about the police lift tower. He stated, “Anytime we have large crowds out here at the beach we feel like an added security measure needs to be taken, we deploy it and use it.” Police will certainly be using it over the next few weekends.
Hopefully, this tool will be used to prevent violence and not for writing minor citations. We always hear about a city being hard on crime. We hear about the increase in arrests. In turn, we are supposed to feel safer. This is not the case when kids are being labeled as Jacksonville juvenile delinquents or when teens are getting Florida criminal records for drinking underage. I do not feel safer when a middle-aged man is given a Florida ticket for having a beer on the beach. As a Jacksonville criminal defense attorney, I hope that this police tower is used to crack down on violence and not just to increase arrests in general. It will likely stop some people from committing crimes. It is comparable to the stationary devices used to clock your speed. While you may not receive a Florida speeding ticket from this radar, you slow down when you see it.