JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has released body camera video showing the moments after officers responded to a teen takeover at Blue Cypress Park in Arlington last week.
Three teenage girls, ages 12 and 13, were arrested last Wednesday night after the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said its officers shut down the takeover.
The body camera video shows officers attempting to break up fights between several young girls at the park.
Officers could be heard telling teens to “back up” before one officer pulled a girl off another. One girl tried to explain her actions to officers.
“She ran up on me!,” the girl said.
The girls continued to shout profanity at each other, even after being placed in handcuffs. Officers then informed others in the area that the park was closed, including several people who were not involved in the takeover.
“These jokers have a meet up and what they do is they meet up, they fight and then they shoot each other,” an officer told one bystander. “And it’s happening all over and it’s spring break. Unfortunately, they have already gotten into three fights it’s that group right there. We shut down the park, but we can’t shut it down for them and not for everybody. This is the worst part of it, I feel horrible because you guys didn’t do anything wrong.”
Deanna, a neighbor who lives nearby, talked about what she saw.
“I [saw] all the teens and I was like dang, that’s a lot of kids, I thought a field trip was happening or something because they came in packs,” Deanna said.
But JSO said the “takeover” incident didn’t end when they closed the park.
Officers said a smaller group from the takeover tried moving the activities to a nearby apartment complex, where there ended up being reports of shots fired.
JSO said they found no evidence that anyone had been shot.
Police said the teens at the apartment complex tried to go back to the park, but officers had already blocked it off and shut it down for the night.
“We are constantly monitoring events like this, allowing our officers to be extremely prepared for any violence,” JSO said. “Our District 2 Patrol officers even held roll call at the park to increase their presence there.”
JSO also says it has officers and detectives who monitor when takeovers are advertised online, but they need parents’ help.
They’re asking parents to talk to their kids about what they are doing in their free time and who they are spending that time with. Police say it’s very easy to see the difference between a legitimate event and one of these takeovers.