DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Daytona Beach Police Chief said it’s time to get rid of an annual event that many residents and city leaders say brings nearly tens of thousands of unruly people to the city.
At a city commission meeting Wednesday night, Chief Jakari Young said many of the people in town for Truck Meet last weekend were out of control.
“I don’t know how we watch this video and have any other discussion besides how do we get rid of this event,” Chief Young said. “I’m already at hell no. This doesn’t work for our city.”
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The chief said the Truck Meet is much different than bike week. He said his officers were swamped with traffic and rowdy crowds for the non-city-sanctioned event. He said officers had to work extra shifts after truckers showed up days earlier. He said it costs his department hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime.
“I literally canceled days off for the entire police department, so it wasn’t just patrolling, it was detectives, school resources officers, everybody,” Chief Young said.
Commissioners showed the new video at Wednesday’s commission meeting in an attempt to exemplify the damage. It showed truckers getting stuck on the beach, late-night wild street parties, and even large fights.
“They were throwing trash out of the windows, they were rude. We don’t need them coming into our city. They took over the whole place,” Marjorie Johnson said.
Residents and city leaders were loud and vocal about the non-sanctioned city event. Police issued hundreds of citations and dozens of arrests. A man was even shot on Sunday.
“And not only does there need to be more conversations about this, but it also can’t be inaction it has to be action,” City Commissioner Dannette Henry said.
No solution was finalized at Wednesday’s commission meeting. News 6 will keep you posted as these discussions continue.
News 6 has reached out to event organizers for the Truck Meet several times but we have not heard back.