MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Miami Beach officials are considering big changes to address crowd control issues during spring break, days after revelers wreaked havoc across South Beach.
At a Miami Beach Commission meeting on Wednesday, officials discussed what course of action to take in the wake of the chaotic scenes that unfolded over the past week.
“We don’t want this kind of spring break,” said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber.
“We had at least three stampedes,” said Miami Beach Police Chief Daniel Oates. “It felt like a fraternity party where everything goes.”
“It was potentially a powder keg,” said a commissioner.
In order to avoid such incidents from happening again, officials proposed changes that include increasing parking rates during “high impact” weekends.
“Everything ought to be on the table,” said Gelber.
#NOW: Changes being discussed by #MiamiBeach City Commission, PD Chief re: how to handle “potential powder keg” #SpringBreak in city. 12-hour PD shifts, increased parking fees, limiting liquor sales. @wsvn
— Sheldon Fox-7 News (@fox_sheldon) March 21, 2018
City Manager Jimmy Morales also proposed limits on liquor sales and to have officers work 12-hour shifts like they do on Memorial Day weekend.
Morales said the city needs to send a message to the rest of the country that alcohol drinking on the actual beach is not allowed. He also stressed that these rules must be enforced more aggressively.
The discussion takes place four days after an altercation near Ocean Drive went from wild to dangerous. It led police to temporarily shut down the eastbound lanes of the MacArthur Causeway to quell the overcrowding, Saturday night.
“Saturday night was a very frightening thing,” said Gelber. “Over the weekend, it really felt like we had lost some control. There is absolutely no way that this city can absorb that kind of party atmosphere.”
Police said the fight broke out near Seventh Street and Ocean Drive. At some point, someone threw a bottle in the air and injured a police officer.
“The bottle was thrown at him, and he blocked it with his hand,” said Oates.
The resulting noise led some revelers to think shots had been fired. Dozens upon dozens of spring breakers took off running from the scene, knocking over restaurant tables as they sprinted away en masse.
“We were oversaturated with people,” said Oates, who added between 4,000 and 5,000 people climbed over barricades to get to the beach.
Police said they made 74 arrests; 39 of them were felonies.
It all went down during a weekend where, police and officials said, authorities simply had too many people to handle.
Other measures discussed at Wednesday’s meeting included removing all parked cars from Ocean Drive, bringing back the traffic loop and limiting scooter rentals.
Commissioners are expected to take up the matter over the next several months, in order to have measures in place by the beginning of the 2019 spring break period.
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