Daytona Beach passes emergency curfew as chief calls for long-term change

Daytona Beach imposes spring break curfew after unrest

Officials in Daytona Beach have decided to impose a curfew amid ongoing spring break disturbances that overwhelmed police and led to multiple shootings.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Daytona Beach city commissioners unanimously approved a youth curfew in response to last weekend’s Spring Break chaos on the beach. 

The emergency curfew, which begins Friday, applies to minors 17 years old and younger who are without adult supervisors. 

The curfew will last seven days. It begins each night at 8 pm and ends the next morning at 5 am. It will only be enforced within the Special Event Zone already designated by the Volusia Sheriff’s Office. 

The backstory:

Thousands packed Daytona Beach last Saturday for an unsanctioned beach takeover. 

The city also experienced four shootings within 24 hours. Two of them near the heart of Spring Break activities. 

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX LOCAL APP

The police chief said so many people showed up his officers were "grossly outnumbered."

What they're saying:

Chief Young said officers will be patrolling on foot. 

"We’re focusing in that core area with the kids that are out there under-age drinking, smoking weed, all that stuff, so that we have tools to be able to get them off the street," Young said."

Young said police were aware of last Saturday’s takeover before it happened but said officers were overwhelmed.

"It’s not like these folks RSVP," Young said. "So it’s somewhat of a guessing game as to how many people are actually showing up, and we do our best to make sure we have resources out there, but truth be told, with the amount of people that were in town this weekend, I literally have, have about 222 sworn officers. Even if I had deployed all 222 sworn officers, in comparison with what we were dealing with, we were still grossly outnumbered, and there were still going to be some incidents like we were seeing on social media."

Young recommended the curfew enacted by city leaders. He also pushed for permanent changes like tougher regulations on bars and vacation rentals. 

SIGN-UP FOR FOX 35'S BREAKING NEWS, DAILY NEWS NEWSLETTERS

"Daytona Beach should no longer position itself as a Spring Break destination," Young said. "It is not a decision against tourism, but a decision against unsanctioned high-risk activity that strains resources, disrupts our community and places unnecessary demands on public safety personnel."

Other city leaders agreed with Young.

"I’m okay with saying that we don’t want to be a Spring Break destination for teenagers," Henry said.

"I think that we are beyond Spring Break," Commissioner Paula Reed said. "Spring Break can still happen here yes, but I think we need to update our image."

What's next:

City Commissioners expressed interest in making the chief’s suggestions permanent. They said they would consider them. They would need to vote on most, if not all, of the measures. 

Only the curfew was enacted at Wednesday’s meeting via an emergency ordinance.