Rowdy and out-of-control teenagers think they can take over spots in the U.S. with ease this summer – but the police are ready to fight back.

We’ve already seen a number of instances where these large groups attempt to “pull up” into a public location to create a general nuisance, only for the police to appear and eventually take control back. But one police group in St. Augustine, Florida, made the right move, shutting down an event before it could even take place.

Some group had been planning a Beach Take Over in the city, even going as far as to try and show off a viral AI-made flyer to advertise what they called a “pull up, turn up, take over” event. It was set to take place at 2 PM on Thursday in the popular beach town. But the police knew better.

Authorities in the local Beach Police Department for the city utilized a special electronic monitoring system to keep tabs on the situation, and quickly pulled the plug before teens could cause the kind of chaos resulting in property damage or, worse yet, civilian injuries.

“We’re a beach town, so we’ve always had spring break crowds that show up – but nothing that’s been organized like this with the sole intent of just causing disruption,” said St. Augustine Beach Police Chief Daniel Carswell, speaking with Fox News.

The department worked very closely with neighboring law enforcement agencies to look at online activity surrounding the illegal event. And it’s there that we see the key element when it comes to people being safe – departments working together, rather than being put at odds by foolish leadership that doesn’t know any better.

“We work together great, especially with the (St John’s) Sheriff’s Office,” Carswell continues. “They have what’s called a Real-Time Intelligence Center – or ARTIC – and that’s their job.”

And it’s a system that works wonderfully. It’s cracked down on a number of these teen takeover events that have taken place so far this summer, including ones in Clearwater, Cincinnati, Naperville, and other locations.

“They search the internet, they’re searching constantly for threats to our community and threats to the public,” said Carswell. “They came across this and sent it to us. Which was fortunate for us, because we had time to act.”

And that’s another key element there. Along with departments working closely together, online monitoring proves to be a highly effective tactic. With this, officers can track dangerous trends before they happen. For instance, finding manifestos by violent types that could potentially do harm, particularly with an “active shooter” event. I highly applaud this practice, especially when it comes to keeping a close eye on social media.

What’s more, the St. Augustine Beach Police Department had a neat idea here. They actually utilized social media to tell everyone that the event wasn’t happening, even going as far as to plaster a “cancelled” logo over the digital flyer that had been created.

“All we can do is what we did, which was putting it out there that this is not a sanctioned event. If you come with the intention of causing chaos or causing disruption, there’s going to be zero tolerance.”

A few people did manage to show up anyway, but with additional officers in place at the pier, it was dissipated before it could even begin. However, it’s worth noting that the department – consisting of just 25 officers – did leave a “complete drain of our resources,” according to Carswell. “That’s the danger of it.”

A good sign that some cities would be better by hiring more police officers – and opening the budget to do so. You listening, Seattle?

Still, there’s far more positive than negative here. The St. Augustine Beach Police Department has done an exceptional job of stopping the situation before it got too far out of hand. They utilized social media not only to track what was happening with the event but got word out that it was cancelled, forcing hundreds to pull back. And they worked beautifully with another department as well – something, again, a few leaders should consider, rather than making decisions to create a larger division.

Remind me to pay a visit to St. Augustine sometime so I can thank these officers in person. They’re getting the work done and setting the pace for shutting down these dangerous teenage hangouts.

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