Cracking Down On Spring Breakers
March is normally a massive month for tourism in South Florida because of spring breakers.
Those partiers and tourists have become an issue for politicians and law enforcement — while being a symbol for uninhibited partying for millions of young people.
“Part of the problems is we’re in the middle of the pandemic,” said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber. “We’re trying to let people know that are going to come here that they can’t just let anything go, they can’t act any way they want to.”
He added that efforts to tame spring breakers include Miami-Dade County’s midnight curfew, mask distribution, license plate readers and increasing police “dramatically” by asking neighboring cities to assist.
The city had nearly 400 arrests from Feb. 3 to 21 amid measures to crack down on spring break crime and keep COVID-19 from spreading, according to figures cited by Gelber.
Some residents worry these efforts could target communities Black and minority communities.