MIAMI. – This weekend’s curfew in Miami Beach was an effective deterrent measure, taken under the professional guidance of the police chief and the local administrator, to prevent the number of visitors from reaching uncontrollable levels, said Commissioner Alex Fernández. of the spa city.
“Experience told us that the third weekend was the most dangerous of the summer holidays. Historically, during these days deaths are recorded, violent events increase and they always culminate in declaring a state of emergency in the city,” Fernández explained to DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS.
The most important thing is that there were no stampedes, no shootings, or fatalities, said the politician.
One of the effects of the different measures taken by the City is that “the total number of arrests for serious crimes was reduced by 26% compared to last year,” said Fernández, who claimed to have walked the streets during the nights of the curfew. .
Regarding the unsuccessful lawsuit by several businesses filed in court on Saturday for a judge to suspend the curfew, Fernández maintained that “fortunately” the judge ruled in favor of the City. “The judge understood that the measure was necessary to prevent crowds from taking over the streets and was the appropriate way to prevent the crimes we have seen in previous years.”
The politician insisted that Saturday’s court ruling confirmed that the temporary measure was reasonable and important to maintain law and order during a critical period. He pointed out that the curfew was not reactive, but a tool that the City Commission had supported and approved since the previous year, when violent events with fatalities were recorded.
“Instead of waiting until there is a death and then imposing a curfew, something that lacks logic, it is better to get ahead of a preventable death, imposing the curfew, along with the other restrictive measures taken by the city,” Indian.
Fernández does not believe that local businesses will insist on suing the City. Since the curfew was only implemented during this weekend and was in effect until Monday, March 18, at 6:00 am
Nor does he consider that the City has to resort to such an extreme measure in the remainder of Spring Break. “Unless acts of violence occur. Of course, the rest of the measures imposed in Miami Beach will continue to stand for the rest of March,” he stressed.
To date this spring break, law enforcement authorities have confiscated 43 firearms. During the just-ended weekend alone, license plate readers analyzed more than 26,700 vehicles that resulted in 144 criminal citations and more than 1,100 traffic citations, Fernández reported.
Regarding the chaos recorded this weekend by vacationers in the city of Fort Lauderdale and the Jacksonville Beach shooting that left one person dead and three injured, Fernández said that “they indicate that we took appropriate measures.”
The politician believes that society in general must act better. “We cannot accept that this type of behavior exists, this lack of civility and violence.”
He criticized the images of young people fighting on the beaches of Fort Lauderdale and the “sad shooting” of Jacksonville Beach.
He acknowledged that Miami Beach cannot “continue to operate under emergency orders, curfews and such strict measures. It is something that cannot be sustained over time. Our police officers are working 13 hours a day, despite having the help of 18 police agencies. This deployment of so many resources can only be done temporarily. It is impossible to maintain it permanently over time.”
Fernández believes that as a society “we should act better to not have to resort to these drastic measures, simply to prevent someone from dying.”
@menendezpryce
