DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Unsanctioned events like the Truck Meet have brought in big business for Volusia County but they’ve also caused big problems for law enforcement.
Daytona Beach city leaders are also looking at legal options they have.
“We’re going to be prepared because we know someone is out there on social media land putting out notices that there’s a truck event coming to our area,” City Manager Deric Feacher said.
There are over 6,000 people right now in a private Facebook group for a Daytona Trucktoberfest that Sheriff Mike Chitwood put the warning out for.
Law enforcement and Daytona Beach leaders are preparing to take on crowds that could act similar to Truck Meet this summer.
“We dealt with people who were doing burnouts on the roads, people cruising who didn’t have a place to go stay at or hotel rooms so they just thought Daytona Beach, A1A was their hangout,” said Feacher.
There were over 40,000 visitors, 1,100 traffic stops, 940 tickets, a road rage shooting, and an over $178,000 overtime bill for Daytona Beach Police Department.
After Truck Meet, a special events task force was created made of leaders across Volusia.
“These invasion type events, these pop up events that people are trying to do because they love coming to Daytona Beach we have to try to figure out how do we make sure that the quality of life for our residents is not impacted in such a way,” Feacher saod.
Feacher said those who do come soon for invasion-type events can expect to see more law enforcement, fines issued, and vehicles towed.
In the meantime, he is working with the city attorney to create legislation to help cities better combat them.
“Increasing fines, looking at if there’s a process where people are promoting events that are not sanctioned by the city that draws in how do we go after those individuals,” he said.