CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Clearwater Police Department will add nearly two dozen officers to patrol the beach for spring break next week as schools in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties released students on Friday for the holiday.

“Typically, on a daily basis, we have about 15 officers patrolling the beach,” said Clearwater Beach Police Lt. Meg Hasty. “We’ll have upwards of 35 this next week in spring break.”

Hasty said she’s expecting large crowds. The Tampa International Airport broke its single-day passenger record on Feb. 25, after 93,334 passengers traveled through the terminal. TPA projects up to 100,000 passengers will arrive at the airport over the weekends in March.  

Hasty said the agency purchased a new side-by-side off-road vehicle to help monitor the large crowds on Clearwater Beach and make it safer to transport individuals from the sand.

“It’s probably about a month old,” she said. “This allows us, the officer safety and the safety of the prisoner, to extract them from the sand in a quick manner. Instead of having to walk them through the sand, which can be quite treacherous at times.”

The officers who operate the side-by-side named “Mindy” are part of the Community Problem Response team, which addresses all spring break issues on the sand.

“They have the ability to work in an undercover capacity in plain clothes. They don’t have to ride around in our marked cruisers,” Hasty said. “They really have the ability to use their creativity to solve the problems that come before us.”

Pier 60 has been a spring break hot spot where fights can occur near daily amongst local high school students who flock to the beach, according to Hasty.

“They have issues that they may have been dealing with in school, or the neighborhood, and they bring it out to the beach,” she said. “There’s always some underage drinking that occurs, and with the drinking comes worse decisions than you may have made.”

Hasty said all cabanas and umbrellas from Pier 60 to lifeguard Tower 4 will be taken out during spring break, because they’ve been destroyed in the past. Police will be cracking down on DUI’s, loud car stereos, modified exhaust systems and pedestrian safety.

A new rule in effect this spring break is a ban on smoking on the beach.

“There was a new ordinance recently passed in the past few months that prohibits smoking in any city parks,” said Hasty. “The beach is considered a city park. That includes cigarettes, vaping, anything that you can roll, except unfiltered cigars.”

Hasty said she wants everyone to have a fun and safe spring break. A good tip is for parents during the busiest month for Clearwater Beach is to take a photo of their child before they hit the sand in case they get separated.

“A picture is invaluable to us,” she said. “So, if we have those that we can get the description out over the air quickly, we can utilize cameras and all of our resources out here to help find your kid.”