Cops halt planned 'teen takeover' as officials brace for a summer surge in chaos and arrests: police chief
A Florida police department is taking a victory lap after thwarting an unsanctioned "teen takeover," marking the latest move from law enforcement working to combat the viral events sweeping the nation.
Authorities with the St. Augustine Beach Police Department shut down an unsanctioned event scheduled for Thursday at a local pier after they used electronic monitoring to identify the plan before it dissolved into chaos.
"We’re a beach town, so we’ve always had spring break crowds that show up – but nothing that’s been organized like this with the sole intent of just causing disruption," St. Augustine Beach Police Chief Daniel Carswell told Fox News Digital.
The gathering was initially scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday, according to the event flyer shared by the department.
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"Pull up. Turn Up. Take over," the flyer reads, with a large "Canceled" banner plastered across the post on social media.
According to Carswell, the department is working alongside neighboring law enforcement agencies to leverage an electronic monitoring system designed to flag planned events before they take place.
"We work together great, especially with the [St. John’s County] Sheriff’s Office," Carswell said. "They have what’s called a Real-Time Intelligence Center – or ARTIC – and that’s their job."
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In the days leading up to Thursday’s planned takeover, Carswell said ARTIC flagged the event to authorities, providing enough time to shut it down.
"They search the internet, they’re searching constantly for threats to our community and threats to the public," Carswell said. "They came across this and sent it to us. Which was fortunate for us, because we had time to act."
In the days leading up to the unsanctioned event, the St. Augustine Beach Police Department used social media to spread the word that the viral takeover had been canceled.
"All we can do is what we did, which was putting it out there that this is not a sanctioned event. If you come with the intention of causing chaos or causing disruption, there's going to be zero tolerance."
The department also deployed additional officers to the pier in the event attendees still showed up – a move that could mean local law enforcement agencies are left understaffed as they devote manpower to the unsanctioned takeovers.
"We’re a small police department, we’re 25 police officers," Carswell told Fox News Digital. "So it is a complete drain on our resources, especially when it’s unplanned – that’s the danger of it."
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Carswell added that the unpredictability of each unplanned event creates a dangerous situation for responding officers and the community.
"We don't know how many people could show up," Carswell said. "It could be tens, it could be hundreds – we don't know. And that is overwhelming to our resources. To have to call in people on their days off or pull resources from other agencies to come down here to the beach in preparation for this [event]."
No charges were filed stemming from the planned takeover event scheduled Thursday, Carswell added.
The rise of teen takeovers overtaking neighborhoods and communities throughout the country has gotten the attention of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who condemned the trend in a social media post.
"Whoever is organizing these ‘teen takeovers,’ congrats: you have my attention," Uthmeier wrote. "This behavior is unacceptable, and I’m having our Statewide Prosecutors develop a plan to investigate and prosecute those who are responsible for these events. Stay tuned. More to come."
On Sunday, May 31, hundreds of teens descended on Clearwater Beach on the Sunshine State’s west coast, prompting a massive police response that ended in multiple people being detained, FOX 13 reported.
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Authorities said a 17-year-old sustained non-life-threatening injuries after being shot during an alleged altercation near Coronado Drive and Devon Drive during the unsanctioned event. A 16-year-old was subsequently arrested in connection with the alleged shooting, the outlet reported.
"What we saw yesterday is behavior that is completely unacceptable," Council member Ryan Cotton said. "It's reprehensible and will not be tolerated within the city limits of Clearwater, as far as I'm concerned."
Additionally, authorities in Palm Beach County were looking into another teen takeover planned for Friday at the Wellington Green Mall, according to WPBF.
Officials reportedly became aware of the takeover after a flyer was circulated on social media, calling on local teens to "bring your crew, bring the energy, let's take over," and are monitoring the situation.
As schools throughout the country are releasing students for summer vacation, Carswell offered a stark warning for both the teenagers planning to partake in such takeovers and their parents.
"They're risking their future and they're risking the safety of others," Carswell told Fox News Digital. "We want you to come out here to the beach, have fun and be kids."
"But to come here with the sole intention to, the flyer says, ‘Turn up, take over, let's make a movie,’ [and] create chaos, things like that, then you're jeopardizing not only your future, but the safety and the future of other people."