Downtown Gathering Of 100s Of Teens A New Holiday Tradition: Police
ST. PETERSBURG, FL — In recent years, a new holiday tradition has taken hold in St. Petersburg: “Large crowds of unsupervised young teens gathering in the downtown corridor,” Ashley Marie Limardo, public information specialist for the St. Petersburg Police Department, told Patch.
This year was no different, as hundreds of teens, most ranging from 13 to 15 years old, took to downtown streets, mostly around the St. Pete Pier and The Mall at the Sundial area, on Christmas night.
Police took “proactive measures to avoid the conflicts that naturally occur when groups of youth come together,” Limardo said via email.
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School resource officers were assigned to the area and members of the department’s downtown team were available to assist as needed and “to hopefully ensure a safe and uneventful evening,” Limardo said. “They were assigned to various locations in the downtown area to interact with youth in a positive manner and to diffuse any incidents they observed.”
Esther Matthews, president of the St. Petersburg chapter of the NAACP, told Patch that after speaking with police and parents who were downtown Monday night, she feels the situation “was handled appropriately.”
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There was a heavy police presence and a Patch reporter near the Pier saw at least 10 police vehicles and more than 20 officers near the Pier around 10 p.m.
Hundreds of teens were kicked off the Pier during the evening and prevented from entering it, while other groups were allowed to enter the destination, according to the reporter. Officers walked the Pier loudly announcing its closure to the teenagers.
Officers responded to several fights and arguments downtown, resulting in five arrests, Limardo said.
Between 10 and 11 p.m., in the area of Second Avenue NE and Beach Drive NE, three teens were arrested “after one of the brawling events,” she said.
One arrested was on a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge for fighting, while the two other misdemeanor arrests were for drug possession.
There were two additional arrests made overnight: one for disorderly conduct and one for drug possession, both misdemeanors.
Since all five teens arrested are juveniles, their arrest reports for misdemeanors are confidential under state law, the department said.
The additional police presence “helped avoid any major incidents or felony crimes,” Limardo said.
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