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👥 City officials, police, and residents clashed over police presence and restrictions at Crestview’s historic May Day celebration.
🔍 Residents raised concerns about inconsistent enforcement, shrinking attendance, and a lack of community control over the event.
🤝 Officials called for a community-led committee to help plan future May Day events and rebuild trust.
CRESTVIEW — Calls for transparency and reform dominated an, at times, tense Community Safety and Events Meeting on July 1, as city leaders, police, and residents wrestled with growing frustrations over Crestview’s historic May Day celebration.
For nearly two hours, officials, including Mayor JB Whitten, City Manager Jessica Leavins, Police Chief Stephen McCosker, Councilwoman Dusty Allison and Okaloosa County NAACP President Sabu Williams, faced tough questions from residents concerned about police tactics, event restrictions, and the future of the tradition itself.
Councilwoman Dusty Allison, who grew up celebrating May Day in Crestview, acknowledged the community’s changing feelings toward the event.
“I remember doing May Day at Southside Elementary School,” Allison said. “We have a responsibility to make sure our city is safe for everybody—but it should also be enjoyable for everybody: children, adults, senior adults, whoever.”
She called for renewed collaboration between the city and event supporters, especially in light of the divide between permitted daytime activities and the informal nighttime gatherings that often follow.
“Even though it’s all one day, it’s still two separate entities,” she said. “Let’s get together and talk about how we can work for next year’s presence.”
Police Chief Stephen McCosker pushed back on criticism of his department’s handling of the event, saying the police response is consistent with other large gatherings like the Fourth of July and Food Truck Friday.
“There is a plan for May Day—both day and night,” McCosker said. “The allocation of resources is no different.”
He emphasized that staffing challenges arise during large, unpermitted gatherings and noted that the department must plan for crowds of up to 5,000 people.
“This year, there was a misconception that we brought in outside law enforcement—we didn’t,” McCosker said. “But as events grow, staffing becomes an issue.”
McCosker also addressed concerns about arrests, insisting that enforcement is restrained.
“We have a very low arrest rate,” he said. “If it’s a 14- or 16-year-old, we’ll call a parent before anything else. We’re not out to ruin people’s nights.”
Still, he warned about the risks of an unstructured event, particularly at night.
“Nobody is in charge of saying what’s allowed,” he said. “There’s alcohol flowing, bottles of liquor being passed around. That’s not what I believe this community wants.”
Some residents at the meeting disagreed, saying police presence—not alcohol or crowds—is driving down attendance.
“May Day used to be wall-to-wall people. Now it’s getting smaller and smaller every year,” one attendee said. “It was putting Crestview on the map. Now people don’t come back because of how they’re treated.”
Others questioned whether rules, such as curfews and alcohol restrictions, are applied consistently across events.
“There’s no curfew law for May Day,” one citizen said. “So why are we being forced off the streets at midnight when we’re not causing trouble?”
Sabu Williams, president of the Okaloosa NAACP, urged officials to focus on rebuilding trust with the community.
“It seems like you’re taking us and putting us in a box, and we don’t know what happens when people get in the box,” Williams said. “We need to rebuild trust.”
He supported forming a committee to oversee both the daytime and nighttime elements of May Day—an idea city officials said they would welcome.
“I’ve asked every year for someone to form a committee,” McCosker said. “I’ve spoken to church groups, citizens, business owners—but nobody has stepped up.”
Mayor JB Whitten closed the meeting with a call for cooperation.
“We need partnership—between everybody in this room, the leadership team, and the community,” Whitten said. “We want to take care of everybody. That’s the key.”
City Manager Jessica Leavins echoed that, inviting residents to stay after the meeting to help launch a planning committee for next year’s May Day celebration.
“This isn’t the last conversation we’re going to have,” Leavins said. “But it needs to be a two-way conversation.”
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