West Palm Beach Police ramp up security for SunFest

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — It’s one of the busiest weekends of the year. Up to 80,000 people are expected to be attending SunFest, the weekend-long waterfront event in Downtown West Palm Beach.

“Yeah there are crowds all over the place,” visitor Miguel Alfonso said.

With large crowds, West Palm Beach Police is on high alert, ramping up its security efforts.

“We’ve been seeing a lot of cops. There’s been a lot of people who are just working security in general, so it’s been pretty nice,” visitor Kyra Hall said.

SunFest is an event that historically has become an easy target for pickpocketers.

“You certainly need to be cognizant of that,” attendee Ravi Balu said.

Officers told CBS12 this was the perfect time to roll out their new app called “SaferWatch.” It lets you text photos and videos, and even live stream directly to 911.

“We can forward to our officers that are on the street in their patrol cars so while they are responding they can have a live view before they get there,” said West Palm Beach Police Chief Frank Adderley.

“It just gives us more eyes with a big event like SunFest. The more eyes we have the better- we want the bad guys to know there are a lot of people watching,” said West Palm Beach Mayor Keith James.

But it seems, not many people know about it yet.

“I’ve never heard of them making an app,” Hall said.

But that doesn’t mean they aren’t all for it.

“Oh, I love it. I didn’t know that so thanks for telling me,” attendee Alan Rose said.

“I think any type of security measure that will help increase safety and is easier for people to contact emergency services when needed is a good thing,” Balu said.

There was a visibly heavier police presence throughout downtown Friday evening. CBS12 was told it’ll remain that way the rest of the weekend.