ANNA MARIA ISLAND – While tourism continues to increase due to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, crime is up and down in AMI’s three cities, police officers say.
“We haven’t seen much of an increase in crime as a result of relaxed COVID restrictions, with the exception of some thefts – people stealing lawn chairs off porches, stuff like that,” said Randy Warren, public information officer for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. While Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach have their own police departments, the city of Anna Maria is policed by Manatee County.
“Even though the city of Anna Maria is currently at full occupancy, fortunately, our violent crime numbers have been down,” he said. “Deputies go where the people are. If it’s a good weather day and the beaches are busy, we’ll be out there patrolling. On other days, visitors flock to Pine Avenue and our deputies will concentrate on those shopping areas, providing a good presence while answering a lot of questions.
“We’re also responding to the normal calls for service and doing directed patrols at night,” Warren said. “Deputies are constantly reminding people to lock their cars, secure their valuables, and pay attention to the rules of the beach and the posted parking restrictions.”
In Holmes Beach, it appears the trend is an increase in crime. Holmes Beach Police Chief William Tokajer said the department has seen a rise in crime over the past two months. The department reports four stolen vehicles over that time compared to one stolen vehicle in all of 2020. The chief also said there were three larcenies, two aggravated assaults and one rape in the month of May alone. For reference, there were no reported rapes in 2020.
“During Memorial Day weekend, we saw 31,000 cars a day cross into Holmes Beach. You have 4,000 of the nicest people in the world here, then on one weekend you add 31,000 cars with two to six people in each car, which means 40,000 or more people in the city, and they are not all welcome guests,” said Tokajer, speaking about visitors that don’t have the best interests of the Island in mind when coming for vacation.
According to Bradenton Beach Detective Sergeant Lenard Diaz, his department has fallen somewhere in the middle. Bradenton Beach has seen a huge influx of visitors since the relaxing of COVID restrictions but officers are generally pleased with the way visitors are behaving when staying in Bradenton Beach.
“We’ve had two or three stolen cars this year, and we normally don’t have any, so yes, there’s been an increase in that,” Diaz said.
“Burglaries, domestics; I haven’t seen an increase, all of that’s pretty much the same. You can definitely tell when dealing with people that there’s stress in their lives due to all of this, and they’re more likely to go off when we’re dealing with them than before COVID,” said Diaz, adding that his department understands the tension after not being able to travel for a long time.
All three police departments work hard to remind visitors that most crimes on the Island are crimes of opportunity. Simple precautions such as not bringing valuables to the beach, locking your car and room, walking in groups late at night, carrying flashlights during those walks and using common sense will make for a safe and enjoyable day at the beach.
