Cape Cod towns say beaches had no major issues after 2023 "disaster"

FALMOUTH - Last year, Falmouth authorities said beaches in the Cape Cod town saw "senseless criminal activity" on the Fourth of July. Things went much better this Independence Day, the police chief said Friday.

"I am pleased to inform you that there was NO property damage reported, littering or out of control issues on our beaches or neighborhoods," police chief Jeffrey Lourie said.

Lourie said there were "a handful of arrests" on Thursday and police did respond to reports of underage drinking and noise complaints, but there were no major issues like last year.

Falmouth beach bag searches

The chief said officers "will continue to be vigilant" through the weekend. He also clarified the meaning of signs on the beaches that say all bags and coolers are "subject to search."

"We do not 'randomly' search these items," Lourie said. "We search when there is cause to do so and an example would be a plain clothes or uniform officer watches someone consuming alcohol on the public beach, which is not lawful."

"Utter disaster" at beaches in 2023

Earlier in the week, Falmouth police said there would be a heavy police presence at beaches that were left in a state of "utter disaster" on July 4, 2023. A year ago, it took workers hours to clean up trash left behind by large groups of teenagers.

Police in the town of Dennis also took steps to avoid "massive drinking parties" on the beach again. They restricted beach parking lots to those with stickers and banned parking in neighborhoods near the ocean.

Police said despite the full beaches, the atmosphere was more "family-friendly" and no arrests were necessary.