Public safety officials in St. Joseph say they are preparing for another busy summer season at Silver Beach after police responded to large crowds of teenagers at the beach earlier this month.
During this week’s St. Joseph City Commission meeting, Berrien County Sheriff Chuck Heit said investigators later determined the gathering involved students from three South Bend-area schools participating in a senior skip day.
“As we found, it was a South Bend skip school day for three different schools that decided to come to Silver Beach,” Heit said.
Police were called to the beach May 18 to disperse large crowds of mostly Indiana teenagers. After leaving Silver Beach, many later gathered at Jean Klock Park in Benton Harbor, where a 15-year-old was shot in the leg.
Heit said the sheriff’s department already has staffing plans in place for the summer season at Silver Beach, including two full-time personnel assigned to the area.
“We’ll have two full-time staff assigned to Silver Beach,” Heit said. “One of them is a school resource officer, so when his duties get done about the first week of June, he’ll be there. We’ll have another deputy starting sooner.”
Officials said additional personnel also will be assigned during large events and other periods of heavy beach traffic.
