SECTOR
Police
CLIENT
Dennis, Mass.
Police Department
GOAL
Assist client in effectively communicating its policy message to a wide audience, achieving its goal of reducing rowdy behavior on the holiday.
Background
Thousands of revels descend on Cape Cod beaches every Fourth of July. In Dennis, recent years saw a troubling trend of partiers creating disturbances, fighting, playing loud music late at night, and getting injured or sick. In 2023, the crowd overwhelmed local law enforcement, which closed the beach mid-afternoon to preserve public safety. The crowd left behind “an extraordinary amount of trash, which included aluminum cans, towels, clothing, shoes, broken glass, broken coolers, beach chairs and contraband.” Over a dozen people were arrested.
Residents called the incident “a disaster” and “disgusting.” The event received negative local and national coverage, causing Dennis significant reputational harm. Further, there was a potential financial threat as the Cape Cod community relies heavily on summer tourism.
The Town’s elected and appointed leaders spent the following months developing new rules and regulations regarding Fourth of July Beach activity. The Town, lacking — as most small towns do — the bandwidth to support a large messaging campaign, turned to JGPR in June 2024, recognizing the need to communicate their plans effectively.
Concept
With just a 30-day window before the holiday, JGPR staff conducted numerous meetings with Town and Police leadership to develop strategies to clearly communicate policy changes. These changes were shared with the media through an embargoed advisory announcing a formal press conference. This advisory included historical information about service calls and arrests.
Following the press conference, the Department released photos from the 2023 response, and videos of fighting, a gun being drawn on an individual, and large crowds at the beaches. This provided TV with B-roll and important additional context about the Town’s actions.
JGPR staff supported elected and appointed officials by assisting with press statements and talking points for the press conference.
Impact
The 2023 incident received 95 media placements across the country. In 2024, the Town of Dennis was mentioned in 110 positive placements, positioning the town and police as proactively addressing a serious matter.
Most notably, Dennis Police arrested 13 people on beaches on the holiday in 2023. In 2024, they arrested zero.
Media Results
From June 19 through July 8, 2024.