Miami

Police Out in Force to Keep Holiday Weekend Party Crowd Safe on Miami Beach

The long holiday weekend is underway and visitors are ready to party for Urban Beach Week. And police say one of the main missions this weekend is to make sure everyone stays safe.

It's wasn't even midnight on Friday and there was a very long wait in traffic on the MacArthur causeway heading into Miami beach.

The hold up caused by the Miami Beach Police Department's annual Memorial weekend DUI checkpoint. It is the point of entry for anybody who wants to party on South Beach this weekend.

And there are plenty of tourists who plan to do just that.

"We are from Connecticut. That's my friends, me and my cousin," said a tourist. Turns out this group had already had a run-in with police Thursday night.

"Oh wait, did and I interview last night? Where you guys the ones arrested? You just got him out of jail?" asked NBC 6's Jamie Guirola.

Turns out its double trouble for the guys in that particular car. NBC 6 cameras were rolling Thursday night as they got arrested allegedly for possession. And one night later, they were arrested again, the car towed in the first bust of the evening.

"This is harassment... for what? We didn't do nothing," one of the men said. Police said they smelled marijuana in the car. "No they didn't smell weed... I don't smell it. It's not coming from here."

But minutes later, Jax, a K9 found the pot.

"Jax will be doing this all night. He's one of our best canines and as you see he's very fixated and he wants his report," said officer Ernesto Rodriguez.

Police say they also found a gun in another car and in the front, a baby without a safety seat. Some drivers understand the need for the tight crackdown, but others don't have the patience.

"Each arrest we make this evening really has the potential to save a life and this is basically a safety measure,"  Rodriguez said.

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