“If you’re coming here to make trouble, I’ll have a room waiting for you at 919 Port Street” this 4th of July holiday. That’s the promise of Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey who addressed the St. Joseph City Commission tonight hoping to calm their fears about any further incidents at Silver Beach County Park. 919 Port Street, for the unanointed, is the street address for the Berrien County Jail in St. Joseph, a few short blocks away from the popular park.
Bailey was joined by St. Joseph Public Safety Chief Brian Uridge in addressing night time incidents of assault over a summer weekend earlier in June that triggered a debate over whether the county was pulling its share of the weight in crowd control and enforcement issues at the Lake Michigan beach front.
Bailey cited his 17 years of working in close alignment with city police and authorities and his recognition of the need for more manpower to handle weekend crowds, especially holiday crowds like the 4th of July typically generates.
First acknowledging that there are a few trouble makers who always spoil it for families in search of good fun, Bailey told the city tonight that he had appealed directly to the Berrien County Board of Commissioners for additional manpower and the tools to sufficiently cover the sizable beach in St. Joe.
Saying there is a “zero tolerance plan for any alcoholic beverages on the beach,” Bailey reported 30 citations in recent weeks for violators who have been ticketed and thrown off the beach for the day. Because it is a misdemeanor charge, Bailey can’t legally keep the bad apples from returning on another day, however if they ever attempt to return on the same day they’ve been evicted he will charge them with a more serious charge of trespassing.
The Berrien County Sheriff”s Department and St. Joseph Department of Public Safety have assembled a robust holiday weekend enforcement and crowd control plan that entails not only considerably more officers on patrol but a number of plain clothes officers to help catch those who think they can outfit the uniformed officers.
Bailey told the city commission, “We simply will not tolerate it,” and noted that the County Board responded with lightning speed to a request filed Wednesday, approval on Thursday and delivery tomorrow of an additional all terrain vehicle, or ATV, to help facilitate a more rapid response in the case of an incident flaring up at the opposite end of the beach from where officers might be on patrol at a given moment.
Bailey even pledged to do whatever it takes to keep the riff-raff from causing trouble at any of the local beaches going so far as to publish his personal cell phone number (269-208-9464) for anyone who can’t get satisfaction in resolving an issue. He strongly encourages anyone who sees trouble on the beach to call 911 and “Don’t go immediately to Facebook — call authorities first who can do something about it.”
Bailey also encourages anyone witnessing illegal activity at the beach to capture it through cellphone video if possible so they have solid evidence to work with. “If you see something, call us, and — if you can record the issue at a safe distance so you’re not putting yourself in harm’s way — capture if for us with your cellphone to track the perpetrators.”
Calling Silver Beach a “great place to go and have fun,” Bailey says that the fights and violence that have taken place have been “people from Elkhart” who are coming her to cause trouble. He says local people show respect for the beach and try to keep things family friendly.
SJ Public Safety Director Brian Uridge says that there were six mounted Sheriff’s Posse officers at the beach over the weekend and he had “unbelievably tremendous responses” from residents who loved seeing them there helping patrol.
A robust emergency management plan utilizing officers, firefighters, undercover plain clothes police, mounted officers and motorized ATV patrols are all in place to help keep the peace over the 4th of July holiday period.
Make sure you’re not inadvertently breaking the law with things you take to the beach with you. You can’t have alcohol, or glass containers, or fireworks and other things. If you’d like to assure yourself you won’t run afoul of the rules regarding what you can and cannot take to the beach (or any county park for that matter) and what you can and cannot do there, click the link below for the county’s list or rules you need to abide by:
