Panama City Beach to close sections of beach overnight during spring break

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Panama City Beach will close several beach access points overnight during spring break season, a move the city council unanimously approved and leaders’ credit with reducing crime.

The closures will run from March 12 through April 30, covering peak college spring break weeks as well as high school breaks that extend later into the season. Beach sections will be cleared from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

The closures will affect beach accesses 25 through 36 — the area behind Pineapple Willy’s and Shores of Panama — as well as beach access 58 near Calypso Condominiums and the Russell Fields City Pier.

James Smeby, captain of the field services division, said the closures are necessary for crowd control. In past years, officers have seen hundreds — sometimes thousands of teens and young adults gathered in those concentrated areas late at night.

“If left unchecked it just gets out of control, and has the potential to go south quick,” Smeby said. “If something goes wrong the crowd scatters like roaches and you can’t see 20 feet down the beach because it’s dark.”

Smeby said the closures reduce the burden on public safety personnel.

“It allows our public safety to get people off of the beach at a certain time, so they are not having to fight problems literally from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.,” Smeby said.

He described the spring break period as a strain on department resources.

“It’s a huge public safety concern — it takes an enormous amount of resources to police it ... a lot of equipment, light towers, camera trailers, you name it we have to put it down there,” Smeby said. “It’s just a huge strain on resources.”

This year, police are also bringing in more outside agencies than ever before to help manage crowds during the high-impact period.

Michael Jarman, a Panama City Beach city council member, said the closures allow visitors to wrap up their evenings without requiring around-the-clock police presence.

“If we are able to clear the beaches at that time it allows everyone to go home at that point,” Jarman said. “Go back to their rooms, had a great time but we don’t need to have our police officers out there 24 hours a day.”

The beach closures and juvenile curfews mirror measures city leaders have approved in prior years. Officers said historically, those measures have led to fewer calls for service and safer conditions overall.

A juvenile curfew of 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. applies to unaccompanied minors in designated high-impact period areas.

No alcohol is allowed on the beach beginning Sunday, March 1, through March 31.

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