Miami Beach

Miami Beach mayor, city leaders tout success of spring break crackdown

NBC Universal, Inc.

Miami Beach Mayor Steve Meiner and other city leaders held an award ceremony and news conference Tuesday to discuss the city's crackdown on spring break this year. 

The news conference was held at Ocean Rescue Headquarters, where Meiner was joined by the Miami Beach City Commission.

The ceremony and conference were hosted to acknowledge the "remarkable success" of this year's spring break.

Unlike years past, there were no high profile incidents, shootings, murders or stampedes after Miami Beach implemented strict measures to deter bad behavior.

One weekend, the city implemented a curfew. It also increased parking rates and closed down parking garages.

Sidewalk cafes were shut down, the beach closed early, and license plate readers were installed at the main entry points, scanning almost every tag that entered the beach.

The city said it saw an 8 percent decrease in total arrests, a 24 percent reduction in felony charges and a 10 percent reduction in calls for police service.

"I think it worked really well, really smoothly, and we’ll see what happens next year but it was all good," Meiner said.

Contact Us