ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange and green and maroon and gold cover the streets of Parramore as Classic Weekend gets underway in Orlando.
Former B-CU football player Zurze Gordon calls it more than a game.
“It’s not a football game. You look at it like a football game, but it’s not really a football game. It’s like a family reunion or a big cookout,” Gordon said.
For FAMU College of Law student Aaron Lucas, the generations of families who come for the experience also enjoy the unity.
“I always came here as a kid. I think that’s something a lot of the Black community in Florida does. Whether you went to FAMU or you went to Bethune, you just come here and it’s like a big picnic,” Lucas said.
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Law enforcement is doubling fines, blocking roads, and increasing patrols in “special event zones.” Vehicles in those zones can be impounded for traffic violations.
Gordon supports the added enforcement.
“I think it’s necessary protection. You have kids. People don’t come here on their own, they bring their kids as well,” he said, adding that the zones help crack down on unpermitted events. “They would get out of their car and do up-and-down with the hydraulics and stuff, which was uncalled for. But that’s what they were doing. I’m glad that the police of Orlando straightened that out.”
But some believe the response is excessive.
When asked whether the level of enforcement is necessary for events like this, Lucas did not agree.
“No, I don’t think so, and I wonder if they did the same thing for EDC,” Lucas said. “I saw a lot of code compliance out here today that I didn’t see for EDC.”
Over the weekend, Commissioner Shan Rose shared residents’ concerns about large groups of officers at gas stations near the stadium — some saying it felt like a “prison encampment.” Rose also described her own experience.
“I pulled into the gas station to get gas, and there were probably like 10 cop cars just sitting around. It’s one thing if you’re on duty actively engaging, but they were just sitting in the parking lot. So to me, they were just sitting, waiting on something,” she said.
Rose wants law enforcement to better educate residents and find a balance.
“There has to be a happy medium, a balance on how we continue to have safe communities and a good rapport with law enforcement, where it doesn’t seem harassing or like over-policing,” she said.
Rose is also encouraging residents to voice their concerns at the upcoming city commission meeting.
News 6 has reached out to Orlando police about the community’s concerns, but the department had not responded at the time of this report.
[WATCH BELOW: News 6 interview with Stephen A. Smith ahead of Florida Classic]
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