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In an emergency action by the Bay County Commission the Sheriff’s Office will now have the authority to ticket swimmers who fail to listen to red flag warnings.
Sheriff Frank McKeithen says 10 people have drowned on Panama City Beach in the past year. McKeithen says he studied similar ordinances in other counties and came up with a proposal to first verbally warn swimmers to get out of the water during dangerous conditions and then ticket those who do not obey. He went on to urge the commission to take immediate action on the ordinance, even scheduling a public meeting for after the law is passed.
The Sheriff cites the dangers for his deputies when trying to rescue double red flag swimmers noting that one rescuer, not from his office, died while trying to save another man earlier this year. Sheriff McKeithen that the action be taken immediately because Labor Day is right around the corner and the next Commission meeting is after the holiday.
The Bay County Board of Commissioners agreed to pass the ordinance, which will give law enforcement the authority to fine or even arrest people who ignore the double red flag warning in the unincorporated Bay County beach area. The Commission approved the ordinance, which is effective immediately.
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We have to help those who can’t help themselves. It is obvious that folks are going to endanger themselves and risk thier lives and the lives of others whether it be on the water or on the road. I think arresting violators of the double flags is a great idea. They are obviously too dumb to obey the warnings, so help them out a bit.
Great, I’m glad we are doing something about the “red flag” swimmers. I suppose we need to thwart Darwin’s theory. I hope the ticket will be expensive enough to stop the “red flag” swimmers. Thank you for doing this.
whit
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Jail, Tickets??? For swimming?? Are our streets that safe?? Could have fooled me, Looks like we have gangs, murders and all manner of other things for law enforcement to do. If they are too dumb to stay out of the dangerous water, or not smart enough to not go para-sailing in a tropical storm, is a thinning of the herd really such a bad thing??