Police: Some Arrests, No Serious Problems At Beach Week
MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) - Urban Beach Week is well underway on Miami Beach, and from all accounts the large crowds are not causing problems, with arrests overnight low, traffic problems light, and complaints to city hotlines mostly routine.
City officials implemented a plan to help with crowd control, blocking access to residential; areas, banning cars from Ocean Drive, and implementing a traffic loop to keep traffic flowing, and by Noon Saturday those plans appeared to be working.
After meeting with the various agencies working on the Beach Week plan, City spokesperson Nannette Rodriguez said the DUI Checkpoint on MacArthur Causeway was an apparent success. More than 1200 cars went through the checkpoint, and more than 20% of the drivers stopped were cited for some kind of violation.
Rodriguez said 24 people were arrested, and 4 guns were seized.
Police were also using an electronic tag reader, and out of the 1200 tags scanned, 30 drivers were given criminal citations.
Calls to the city's call center were almost insignificant, and Rodriguez said towing was down from last year, possibly because visitors are being restricted from those areas and that's where last year's major problems were reported. Noise complaints are down.
One problem was reported with the Johnny Rockets restaurant, which police said was allowing people to take alcohol out of the store. The manager was warned, as that violates the Beach open-container laws.
Urban Beach Weekend is a loosely organized series of events which draws mostly young black people to Miami Beach for a long weekend of clubbing, parties, and fun on the beach.
As many as half a million people have attended, causing problems for Beach residents who have, in the past, felt like they were under siege by the crowds, which caused traffic problems and invaded residential neighborhoods looking foe places to park. City officials are predicting about 200 thousand people will visit Miami Beach this weekend.
This year, $1.5 million a city plan to restrict access, direct traffic flow, stop DUIs and potential law violators with a traffic stop and tag check., better lighting, zero tolerance of open container law violations, and enforcement of beach restrictions after hours were supposed to allow residents breathing space while allowing visitors to party, within limits.
While the plan drew criticism as too restrictive, at first glance most elements appear to be working as planned.
At the 2011 Urban Beach Weekend, police shot and killed a suspect and wounded a number of bystanders in an early morning fusillade of gunfire after the man refused to stop for police. More than 100 shots were fired, and the resulting video captured from a hotel balcony gave the city a large black eye for its handling of the incident.
Residents demanded the event be canceled, but since there is nothing "official" about the weekend, there is nothing to cancel. The plan in effect Memorial Day weekend is the city's effort to respond to resident concerns while protecting the rights of visitors.
So here's how it all breaks down:
Miami Beach wants to minimize the impact for residents so certain streets will be open for local residents only.
The roads that closed Friday morning will remain closed until Tuesday May 29th.
There's a Traffic Loop in effect.
Ocean Drive is shut down to vehicular traffic from 5th to 15th Street until Tuesday at 7:00 a.m.
Collins Avenue is northbound traffic only between 5th to 15th Street until Tuesday at 7:00 a.m.
Washington Avenue is southbound traffic only between 5th to 15th Street from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
Proof of Residency will be required to enter the following residential areas:
North of 5th Street to Lincoln Road from Washington Avenue west to Alton Road
South of 5th Street to Government Cut
Dade Blvd to 41st Street and Pine Tree Drive
Proof of residency is required to enter the residential areas north of 5th Street - 11th Street from Washington Avenue west to Alton Road.
