Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor said that Gasparilla will help in preparing police officers for the 2012 RNC
Tampa, Florida - Protestors and police clashed at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota. Officers arrested hundreds as things got rowdy.
Just months away from the 2012 RNC in Tampa, police here are on notice. "We're used to big events like this, but I must admit the RNC is a different animal. Some people have equated it to equivalent of 4 or 5 Super Bowls," Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor told us.
The Chief realizes this weekend's Gasparilla festival could be the last sort of practice-run for Tampa officers before the RNC arrives with thousands of protestors in tow.
"The similarity would be the restraint our officers would treat these individuals with," Castor says. "That's what we would look for - professionalism and restraint."
TPD is also rolling out a new tactic for dealing with booze along Bayshore - issuing citations instead of arresting offenders caught with an open container outside the parade route. Police can issue a $75 citation for the first offense, but underage drinkers will still be cuffed and taken to jail.
"As I always say, we want everybody to go home with a neck full of beads - not a pair of handcuffs," Castor added.
Gasparilla could draw as many as half a million people, and that's why Tampa Police will have every officer on duty Saturday. 1,400 officers will be dedicated specifically to the area near the parade.