Cocoa Beach ramping up police patrols with large, illegal beach party set for Saturday
COCOA BEACH, Fla. - Cocoa Beach is cracking down on an illegal beach party that could take over the Cocoa Beach pier on Saturday.
City officials are on high alert after they learned that up to 10,000 people could be flooding the city over the holiday weekend at a pop-up party promoted on social media, which was sending people to Cocoa Beach.
In the past, these parties have erupted in violence and shootings in Volusia County. The city says that won’t be tolerated in Brevard County.
The city doesn’t know what to expect, so they’re preparing for the worst. They found out about this event on social media on Thursday night after Volusia County law enforcement tipped them off.
The city says this is an illegal event and won’t tolerate anyone coming here to cause trouble.
"Are we going to have people that are going to break the rules, bringing drugs in, bringing gang violence in," said Cocoa Beach Mayor Keith Capizzi.
The mayor doesn’t know but says his city is ready for whatever happens on Saturday.
"We’re all on high alert, and we’re dedicated to holding people accountable to the highest standards," he added.
This event is illegal because the city manager says organizers never applied for a special event permit, so the city had no time to prepare or plan for a large gathering.
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"We’re concerned with traffic. We’re concerned with just some of the history of these events and some of the things that have happened," said Wayne Carragino.
The city manager says shootings and fights are top of the mind, so they’ve already been in touch with local hospitals to prepare for patients.
"A group of people show up, and there’s a big party there all of a sudden, and yes, it’s very difficult," said police chief Wes Mullins.
Traffic fines will be doubled on Saturday, and cars will immediately be towed and impounded for parking illegally.
Families, like the Gregorys visiting from Wisconsin, are here for fun.
"We’ve done Disney, Universal, the beach," said Nolan and Liam.
The city wants to keep the holiday weekend safe for everyone.
"That will be good to have extra people out," said Bart Gregory about having extra police patrols in the area.
The Cocoa Beach city attorney had already sent a cease-and-desist letter to the social media promoter who was sharing information on the huge beach party.
Officials say you should prepare for extra traffic in the area. Cocoa Beach is working with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) to ensure everyone is safe no matter what happens.