Island first responders, midway through the Easter week, reported a peaceful spring break.
Bradenton Beach police Chief John Cosby said a combination of city and county personnel was making for a quiet holiday.
“We had some minor noise complaints but nothing serious,” Bradenton Beach police Lt. Lenard Diaz added March 28, with the long holiday weekend still to come.
The Easter holiday coincided with spring break for Manatee County public school students, as well as students in many other U.S. communities. Still more school districts went on break April 1.
Diaz described the week beginning March 25 as crowded but typical.
He said there was one golf cart crash that occurred at the Bridge Street-Gulf Drive roundabout but no one required medical treatment.
In Holmes Beach, police Chief Bill Tokajer reported a crowded but relatively uneventful spring break — thus far.
He said the city focused on making sure parking was readily available for visitors.
“We did what state leaders and county commission have asked and instead of us having all these ‘no parking’ signs we made efforts to mark where we wanted people to park,” Tokajer told The Islander March 27. “That’s been done in pretty much all of our street parking areas outside of the public beach.”
Holmes Beach also created a webpage informing people where they can find parking. The page is at holmesbeachfl.org.
“We’ve been averaging about 36,000 cars a day for about the past couple weeks,” Tokajer said.
With the Easter weekend still to come, Tokajer said St. Patrick’s Day was the busiest day he had seen since the July 4, 2023, holiday
“Everybody has been keeping it family-friendly and that’s what we want,” the chief said. “When I am driving up and down the beach, I see a lot of families that are enjoying the quiet calm of Holmes Beach.”
Anna Maria is policed by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, which on holidays also steps up its enforcement work in Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach.
The MCSO worked with the island police departments to assign special response teams and mounted patrols and increase marine patrols for the Easter weekend.
MCSO public information officer Melissa Conway, in a March 27 email to The Islander, said the week of March 17-24 deputies arrested 10 people for driving under the influence and one person for boating under the influence.