BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — Over the next few months Bay County will be busy with tourists and locals enjoying the summer season, but summer or not, large crowds are nothing new for Panama City Beach.
“We have the beach patrol going nearly year-round right now so, of course, we upped the numbers of deputies that are trained and can work the beach patrol meaning doing water rescue,” BCSO Public Information Officer Ruth Corley said.
More people also means an increase in 911 calls.
“Sometimes you will see an uptick in certain types of crime, you just have more people and then there are also people that come to an area, tourist area just to victimize others,” Corley said.
Bay County Sheriff’s deputies said they’ll be using the intelligence tools on-hand to track down potential criminal activity, but crime isn’t the only concern.
“Weather systems in the Gulf will affect how the beach patrol is posting flags so it’s really important you’ve got family and friends coming to stay with you because they’re going to go to the beach while you’re at work, tell them about the beach flag warning system,” Corley said.
Even during big events, like Gulf Coast Jam, they will always have enough deputies.
“Staffing for security and there will still be deputies on the beach, on the sand, and there will still be deputies patrolling the zone there and everywhere else in the county, too so it’s a full-court press for us for these kinds of weekends,” Corley said.
The Sheriff’s Office will host two youth academies along with several family-friendly events this summer. Click here for more information on how to sign up a teenager for the academy.