New Smyrna Beach police say arrest 73 people during spring break
Two years after dealing with widespread crime, New Smyrna Beach had a much different spring break this year.
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Police increased patrols and presence in several key areas, making significant arrests and recovering guns and drugs.
For shops on Flagler Avenue like Sue Who Boutique, a no-nonsense approach to spring break meant less stealing and more sales.
“I don’t think this year you saw the looting. You didn’t see the businesses they were running out of and stuff like that. I thought it was a lot more controlled,” said Michele Meturski.
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New Smyrna Beach only dealt with one significant situation when a 16-year-old from Lakeland pulled a gun on a crowd of spring breakers at the beach. He was quickly arrested.
Police Chief Eric Feldman points to support from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies for the prompt response.
“We had highway patrol, fish and wildlife and then all of our municipal partners in town which was quite a visible presence which typically keeps things kind of calmed down,” said Feldman.
Feldman’s department made 73 arrests. Of those, 28 were juveniles. Officers recovered 5 guns and intercepted drugs.
“Behind all of those very friendly uniformed officers, there were non-uniformed officers who were looking for the problems and we were able to stop quite a few kids from going down on the beach with guns and drugs,” said Feldman.
New Smyrna Beach’s youth curfew is now in effect year-round but Feldman said it’s most heavily enforced during spring break and busy holiday weekends. He said officers only had to give out a few curfew warnings this year.
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