Some Coast police pass on helping with MS Black Spring Break enforcement this year

Thousands of visitors are expected in South Mississippi April 11 to 14 for Mississippi Black Spring Break, but police officers who usually help patrol along Biloxi Beach are staying away.

The police department provided details March 5 to the new events committee that reviews applications for large public events in the city. At that time, seven police officers from other cities agreed to help, said Community Development Director Jerry Creel. “It’s now dwindled down to one,” said Creel, whose department oversees event applications.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be a big law enforcement presence this year.

Highway Patrol will send officers to patrol U.S. 90, Creel said, and county deputies also will assist.

The city generally hires a dozen or more event officers for spring break, and “it’s costly,” said Biloxi Police Chief John Miller. His department doesn’t have trouble hiring these extra police for any other events in Biloxi, he said.

“Not a lot of people want to come work spring break,” he said.

The event brings tourists and business to South Mississippi each spring, but it also has brought problems.

Miller warned the city after last year’s spring break that police protection would be an issue if the Biloxi Council didn’t take action. One person was shot and killed during last year’s spring break. Five more were shot and injured in Biloxi, including a Biloxi Police officer. Seven were charged with aggravated assault, the majority on police officers, Miller told the council after the 2023 event.

The council debated for months before adopting a series of ordinances that govern security, parking, insurance, vendors and other concerns that apply to all large events.

“We plan on making them work,” Miller said.

‘Surprise parties’ may be first test

The crowd for MS Black Spring Break wasn’t as big in 2003 as in some years. The city estimates 30,000 people in Biloxi while the organizers say it was quite a bit lower than that.

Nick Brundidge, who said he and his team created and organized Mississippi Black Break since 2010, said he’s been planning this year’s event longer than Biloxi has been working on regulations. He filed an application immediately after last year’s spring break with Harrison County Beach Authority for amplified music on the beach.

That’s not something that’s allowed under the beach regulations, said Marlin Ladner, president of the Harrison County Supervisors. The beach is public but permits are required for events, weddings and even bonfires.

Brundidge said the former sand beach administrator for years approved his amplified music permit, which he said helped police because it drew people on to the sand.

Brundidge was one of at least four event promoters of spring break in Biloxi last year, Miller said.

AG Tourins is again promoting a concert at the Coast Coliseum during Spring Break with Jeezy, Sexyy Red, 42 Dugg and others, Brundidge said.

But one woman last year advertised online a party in Woolmarket, a rural area in northern Biloxi. So many people showed up at the private home, where no party was permitted, the event quickly was overwhelmed and Biloxi police shut it down.

Miller said he’s aware of pop-up parties and ticket sales being advertised on social media again this year, with no permits, and tickets being sold without a location announced.

“We believe it to be in Biloxi,” Miller said. “These are not legitimate folks,” he said, and at some point the location will be announced. If they are in Biloxi, he said, the events will be shut down.

Spring breakers and cones on the way

Most of the spring break parties will be held at bars in Gulfport this year but the spring break beach party on Biloxi Beach is scheduled for that Saturday.

To provide the latest information, Ward 5 Councilman Paul Tisdale scheduled a public meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 27 at the Donal Snyder Community Center at 2520 Pass Road in Biloxi.

Capt. Grandver Everett, special events coordinator for the city, will be there along with other city officials.

“We’ll see how it goes this year,” he said of spring break under the new laws.

Biloxi still will have crowds on the beach, he said, and orange cones along U.S. 90, if needed, to reduce the highway from four lanes to two and allow access for emergency vehicles.

He thinks interest will trail off without the “spontaneity” of previous spring breaks in Biloxi.

What happened in Miami Beach this year?

Miami Beach, where spring break parties go on every weekend for a month, pulled the welcome mat, announcing the city was “breaking up with spring break” in a viral video.

Thousands of spring breakers still descended on South Beach last weekend, the Miami Herald reported on March 19, and for the third consecutive year the city declared a midnight curfew “in hopes of preventing the type of chaos and shootings that have soured the festivities in recent years.” Businesses near the beach were closed except for delivery and liquor stores closed at 8 p.m.

The crows were smaller and calmer than in 2023, the report said, when there were two fatal shootings.

“We did not make this decision lightly, but it should not come as a surprise. We have been very clear about our intent to protect the public from the dangerous mayhem that has accompanied Spring Break crowds in recent years,” Miami Beach City Manager Alina Hudak said in a press release.

Many spring breakers instead went 30 miles away to Fort Lauderdale, where there was no curfew and parties were plentiful.