Anna Maria Island was the place to be on the Fourth of July — with law enforcement out in force and few crimes and emergencies to report.
Although law enforcement and rescue personnel reported large crowds on the Fourth — by the numbers kept the Manatee County Marine Rescue Unit — there were fewer beachgoers.
Compared to 2014, an estimated 16,000 fewer visitors came to Coquina Beach and about 1,500 fewer people visited Manatee Public Beach.
The county beaches account for a 1-mile stretch in Bradenton Beach and a 400-yard-wide beach in Holmes Beach. MCMR Chief Joe Westerman, who heads the lifeguard division now staffed with 12 lifeguards, could not explain the drop.
“Could it be because they canceled the fireworks at the Beach House? Or could it be because it was the start of Shark Week on Discovery Channel? I don’t know,” he said.
A morning weather forecast that called for 50 percent chance of rain may have influenced people to decide not to come to the beach, Westerman continued.
“I don’t know why the numbers went so far down. Our overall weekend, we were busy. We had crowds all weekend,” Westerman said.
Bradenton Beach Police Department Detective Sgt. Lenard Diaz and Manatee County Sheriff’s Office public information director Dave Bristow reported “a lot of people.”
Following a Memorial Day weekend of street fights near the Coquina Bayside South Boat Ramp in Bradenton Beach, Diaz said the city was mostly crime-free with only “a couple of arguments” at the boat ramp.
BBPD quelled the arguments that broke out among personal-watercraft users skipping in line at the ramp on the Fourth, but unlike the Memorial Day weekend, no violence occurred.
Increased law enforcement on land and water, including MCSO mounted patrols, assisted with crowd control and responded to a few emergencies, including a woman having a seizure brought in from the water July 4, Diaz said.
Diaz said BBPD responded to calls for illegal fireworks and, once officers advised suspects to cease and desist or they’d face arrest, they cooperated.
MCSO Sgt. Paul Davis, who heads the Anna Maria substation, summed up the weekend saying, “The crowds were crushing, but problems were very minimal.”
There was a report of one person with illegal fireworks that MCSO didn’t catch — a guy with a back pack who was lighting and setting off single mortars.
Otherwise, Davis reported a couple noise violations, no alcohol violations and no problems with traffic.
“I want to give residents and visitors a big thank you,” he added.
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said officers “did quite a bit of firework enforcement on the beach and confiscated the illegal ones.”
He said the enforcement was mostly “complaint driven,” responding to complaints rather than seeking out violations.
For the July 4-5 weekend, Tokajer reported HBPD wrote 104 parking tickets — up from 2014 when HBPD wrote about half that number of tickets over a three-day holiday period.
With the increased law enforcement presence, Westerman reported controlled crowds on the beach.
Lifeguards assisted with multiple lost children calls, one for a lost elderly person, a few heat related issues, and no shark sightings.
“For the most part everybody played nice in the sand box,” he concluded.