The following excerpt was from an article posted in the Patch on Wednesday, July 3, 2024.
Montana Samuels, Patch Staff
FALMOUTH, MA — In 2023, Falmouth police said the town’s beaches “were left an utter disaster” after the July 4 weekend.
That won’t be the case in 2024.
This week, Falmouth police officials announced that, in response to 2023, they will be upping patrols at all town beaches.
Plainclothes officers will be out at beaches all week with a “heavy” uniformed police presence at select times.
Police also announced they’ll be implementing a zero-tolerance policy regarding public consumption of alcohol and marijuana on town beaches, which means all coolers and bags are subject to searches.
In 2023, Falmouth police said they dealt with large groups of teenagers who gathered on local beaches and behaved in a “disrespectful and rude” manner. There was also “widespread evidence” of underage drinking, police said.
Fireworks — illegal in Massachusetts — were being shot both in the air and at other people, and beaches “were left an utter disaster with litter, alcohol containers and broken glass, which took the Falmouth DPW hours to clean up,” police added.
In addition to the unruly behavior on beaches, police also explained a few individual incidents. “A resident of North Falmouth had a can of beer thrown through the front window of their house, shattering the window and nearly missing a person inside the home,” police said of one.
“A group of teens climbed up and trespassed onto the balcony of a Falmouth Heights condominium, right outside the bedroom of a sleeping child. They were promptly asked to leave by an adult resident,” officials said of another.
Police said some groups behaved respectfully and followed police direction, “but the majority were uncooperative and presenting a public nuisance.”
(ed: The article continues with news regarding activity in Dennis. Click here to access the full Patch article.)