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No break for first responders
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER
 | | Eye in sky STAFF PHOTO BY PHIL REYNOLDS Port Aransas Police Chief Sam Russell surveys beach traffic on Saturday, March 15, from the rooftop of a beachfront condominium. Police found that the altitude gave them a good overall view of Spring Break traffic and helped avoid some congestion problems on the beach. |
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Port Aransas police are enthusiastic about a new city ordinance that bans drinking in public on the beach during March between midnight and 2 a.m.
"We got a lot of cooperation," said Police Chief Sam Russell.
Sgt. Terry Syler agreed. "Most of the time, we'd tell them about the ordinance and they'd comply," he said.
That doesn't mean there were no arrests during the just-past weekend of Spring Break 2008. Lt. James Stokes computed 148 arrests between Friday, March 14, and Monday, March 17. There were 170 charges filed, he said - that's because some people were charged with more than one crime.
The numbers reflect arrests not only by Port Aransas police, but by Precinct 4 Constable Bobby Sherwood's deputies, as well as officers from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD).
An even dozen TABC agents have been in Port Aransas for Spring Break, along with 10 TPWD game wardens. Game wardens, who are state law enforcement officers, are empowered to enforce laws all across Texas.
Also, 10 DPS troopers augmented the officers, although most of the DPS effort was concentrated in a driving while intoxicated task force.
Last year, 87 arrests were reported for all agencies between Friday and Sunday evening; however, the 2007 Spring Break was marked by rainy weather and crowds were significantly lower than this year's crowds, officers said.
Officers agreed that most of the crowd over the past weekend was well-behaved. Of the 170 charges filed, 12 were felonies, police reports showed. As with any Spring Break, most of the charges involved public intoxication or minors in possession of alcohol.
EMS workers made 20 calls over the weekend, Stokes said. He said police were called to 11 auto accidents, nine of which were minor. The other two involved vehicle-pedestrian accidents on the beach, including one in which a man's leg was reportedly run over by a vehicle.
The only reported injury so far among Port Aransas officers was to Lt. Darryl Johnson. Johnson said while he was wrestling a shoplifter to the floor, he was stabbed in the neck by the man's fingernail.
"It wasn't an intentional assault," Johnson said.
Fire Chief Scott Mack said he was paged only twice over the weekend; firfi.ghters made a total of eight calls, although they were also tasked to provide traffic control on occasions when traffic jams called for closing the beach driving lanes temporarily.
Although The University of Texas- Austin and Texas A&M University College Station had their Spring Breaks last week, officers expect most of the problems to come this weekend. That's when most high schools will still be on Spring Break, as well as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and several other colleges.
Although night-vision glasses used from perches atop beachfront condominiums proved less effective than expected (headlights caused flare in the glasses), officers will continue to observe beach traffic and activity from the tall buildings. They are good observation points during the day, and even at night, activity can be monitored even without night-vision glasses, they said.
Last weekend's Spring Breakers were blessed by near-perfect weather. This coming weekend, they can expect about the same, forecasters say. Predictions call for clear to partly cloudy skies with little chance of rain, and high temperatures in the mid-70s through Sunday, March 23.
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