South Haven city leaders are reviewing their options following Sunday’s disturbance at North Beach. The beach was evacuated and more than 50 arrests were made when fights broke out in the crowd and glass bottles started getting thrown around leading up to the Light Up the Lake fireworks show. Acting Police Chief Natalie Thompson says she’s planning meetings with the public and other law enforcement agencies to find a strategy for next year.
“We’re already working on ideas,” Thompson told WSJM. “The community has provided excellent input.”
At a Tuesday city council meeting, Mayor Bob Burr said he’s heard from residents who want to cancel future fireworks shows, adding there’s plenty of time for that to be discussed. He feels the police department acted properly in shutting the beach down.
“The behavior was atrocious at that point in time, and it was mainly people from outside of town,” Burr said. “We had a large number of people from Kalamazoo and they were just there to raise hell.”
City Manager Brian Dissette says, whatever is done, all affected agencies should be prepared.
“What we’ll be actively doing is engaging first responders to ensure that whatever occurs in 2017, be it fireworks, be it some reduced version of the fireworks, or be it no fireworks, that that’s been actively reviewed by the first responders,” Dissette said.
City council members said they don’t believe the evacuation was racially-motivated, as some on social media have suggested. They also thanked police for acting in the interest of safety. Chief Thompson says, in addition to the arrests, 50 to 70 tickets were issued. Mayor Burr said anyone convicted over the incident should be banned from South Haven’s beaches for five years.
