Florida spring break partiers see Miami mayhem while Fort Lauderdale avoids chaos

[AMart]

Spring break parties shut down Miami Beach with mayhem and violence, but the good times rolled on about an hour up the coast in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Bikini-clad co-eds, who flocked to coastal vacation hotspots in the Sunshine State, spent hours on sunny beaches, soaked in the nightlife and enjoyed a week-long break from their studies.

Fort Lauderdale police told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement, "There were no major incidents related to the 2023 Spring Break season," minus two "notable" arrests for a random assault on a disabled man and a fight with a security staff member at a bar.

It was a stark contrast to the chaos in Miami Beach, where two people died, a third was wounded and several were injured in stampedes after gunshots rang out twice over the weekend, and unruly crowds were seen going wild and jumping on occupied cars, prompting a citywide state of emergency.
Between Feb. 27 and March 19, there were at least 322 arrests, including at least 165 for violent felonies and drug-related crimes, and 70 guns were seized, according to the city's state of emergency declaration.
READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP
That's a 27% increase in felony arrests over the same time period last year and 200% increase in homicides, according to the city.
SPRING BREAK DANGERS: 5 AMERICANS WHOSE VACATIONS ENDED IN DEATH
On Sunday, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said numerous people visiting the area brought guns and "created a peril that cannot go unchecked."
A midnight curfew for Miami's South Beach went into effect on March 19 and will run through March 27, along with additional safety measures and a strict crackdown on alcohol, which was announced by the city manager on Thursday.
"In response to the illegal and unruly behavior exhibited by these large crowds during March 2023, and in order to provide for the health and safety of persons and property, the city deployed hundreds of law enforcement officers," according to Miami Beach's state of emergency declaration.
Law enforcement officers from several jurisdictions have been working up to 14-hour shifts six days a week, the document notes.
SPRING BREAKERS GATHER NEAR MEXICO BORDER SEEMINGLY OBLIVIOUS TO CRIME THREAT, US WARNINGS
"Despite unprecedented police presence, for two consecutive nights, Ocean Drive has been the scene of deadly shootings. So, tonight, Sunday, March 19, we will be implementing a midnight curfew for South Beach as part of our emergency powers," Miami Beach Mayor Daniel Gelber said in a statement.
"In addition to a midnight curfew, the sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption will be prohibited in the curfew area after 6 p.m."

Spring breakers lounge on the sand in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 18, 2023.
In Fort Lauderdale, there was a heavy police presence on the beaches during the first weekend of spring break.
Drug-sniffing dogs roamed the sand with their handlers and cops patrolled the beaches on four-wheelers. There was a noticeable police presence outside the nightclubs and bars.
Alcohol laws were strictly enforced and beverages were confiscated.

Spring breakers are welcomed to Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida, on March 17, 2023.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis told CBS News that the beaches are mostly populated with college kids and he's "pleased" with spring break 2023.
"We don't allow drinking on the beach, unless you're being served by a hotel," Trantalis told CBS. "The bars are open to a certain time, they're not open as late as other cities are. We try to curb the excitement a little bit."

Florida spring break partiers see Miami mayhem while Fort Lauderdale avoids chaos

Fort Lauderdale police said there were no major incidents related to spring break, which was a stark contrast to Miami Beach, where there were 322 arrests and two fatal shootings

www.yahoo.com

 

[initforme]

Only spoiled entitled kids go on spring break.

 

[1srelluc]

Most of those arrested were Miami-Dade residents.

 

[beautress]

Spring break parties shut down Miami Beach with mayhem and violence, but the good times rolled on about an hour up the coast in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Bikini-clad co-eds, who flocked to coastal vacation hotspots in the Sunshine State, spent hours on sunny beaches, soaked in the nightlife and enjoyed a week-long break from their studies.

Fort Lauderdale police told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement, "There were no major incidents related to the 2023 Spring Break season," minus two "notable" arrests for a random assault on a disabled man and a fight with a security staff member at a bar.

It was a stark contrast to the chaos in Miami Beach, where two people died, a third was wounded and several were injured in stampedes after gunshots rang out twice over the weekend, and unruly crowds were seen going wild and jumping on occupied cars, prompting a citywide state of emergency.
Between Feb. 27 and March 19, there were at least 322 arrests, including at least 165 for violent felonies and drug-related crimes, and 70 guns were seized, according to the city's state of emergency declaration.
READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP
That's a 27% increase in felony arrests over the same time period last year and 200% increase in homicides, according to the city.
SPRING BREAK DANGERS: 5 AMERICANS WHOSE VACATIONS ENDED IN DEATH
On Sunday, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said numerous people visiting the area brought guns and "created a peril that cannot go unchecked."
A midnight curfew for Miami's South Beach went into effect on March 19 and will run through March 27, along with additional safety measures and a strict crackdown on alcohol, which was announced by the city manager on Thursday.
"In response to the illegal and unruly behavior exhibited by these large crowds during March 2023, and in order to provide for the health and safety of persons and property, the city deployed hundreds of law enforcement officers," according to Miami Beach's state of emergency declaration.
Law enforcement officers from several jurisdictions have been working up to 14-hour shifts six days a week, the document notes.
SPRING BREAKERS GATHER NEAR MEXICO BORDER SEEMINGLY OBLIVIOUS TO CRIME THREAT, US WARNINGS
"Despite unprecedented police presence, for two consecutive nights, Ocean Drive has been the scene of deadly shootings. So, tonight, Sunday, March 19, we will be implementing a midnight curfew for South Beach as part of our emergency powers," Miami Beach Mayor Daniel Gelber said in a statement.
"In addition to a midnight curfew, the sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption will be prohibited in the curfew area after 6 p.m."

Spring breakers lounge on the sand in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 18, 2023.
In Fort Lauderdale, there was a heavy police presence on the beaches during the first weekend of spring break.
Drug-sniffing dogs roamed the sand with their handlers and cops patrolled the beaches on four-wheelers. There was a noticeable police presence outside the nightclubs and bars.
Alcohol laws were strictly enforced and beverages were confiscated.

Spring breakers are welcomed to Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida, on March 17, 2023.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis told CBS News that the beaches are mostly populated with college kids and he's "pleased" with spring break 2023.
"We don't allow drinking on the beach, unless you're being served by a hotel," Trantalis told CBS. "The bars are open to a certain time, they're not open as late as other cities are. We try to curb the excitement a little bit."

Florida spring break partiers see Miami mayhem while Fort Lauderdale avoids chaos

Fort Lauderdale police said there were no major incidents related to spring break, which was a stark contrast to Miami Beach, where there were 322 arrests and two fatal shootings

www.yahoo.com

As I recollect, many states and their colleges warned their students to forego Spring Break this year due to violence of attention-eager political radicals who intend to hurt people and walk due to weak state laws on Spring Break crimes of belligerent sophists.

 

[Flash]

Most of those arrested were Miami-Dade residents.

It use to be that the Spring Breakers would come to Florida and some would be assholes, chicks would get laid, everybody would get drunk but most not cause any real problems and then they would go back to where ever they came from.

The locals most stayed out of it.

However, nowadays the Blacks are looking at the influx as an opportunity to commit crimes. Easy pickings for them. Drunk White girls, what could go wrong?

 

[shockedcanadian]

If Florida police work closely with our dishonest, pedophile/abusing protecting Toronto Police, I'd say Florida will have bigger problems over the next few decades than just trouble makers at Spring Break.
Worse, you won't have the necessary characters to deal with REAL crimes. Copying Torontos approach, which has bankrupted the city, made Toronto the most indebted population on earth with massive overpriced homes, forces police agencies to disregard their principles and hire people of questionable character and undesirable ethics.

Be forewarned if you try to emulate Canadian policing. There is a reason we have the second most number of expats around the globe as a %...people leave Canada for freedom and accountability.

I saw a chart that suggested Florida is #17 in terms of innovation by state. Follow CYA Canadian police and "lost civil liberties and innovation" will follow. It's why Canada and Ontario literally hands hundreds of millions of dollars to companies to manufacture here, we have ZERO know-how.

Nice weather will only get you so far...

 

[odanny]

Most of those arrested were Miami-Dade residents.

The hoods flood Miami Beach every year during Spring Break.

 

[Ralph Norton]

Only spoiled entitled kids go on spring break.

Never invited, eh?

 

[shockedcanadian]

Never invited, eh?

Ouch.

 

[AMart]

‘Toxic mix’: Miami Beach mayor mulls ending spring break after violence​

City leaders in Miami Beach are to rethink their approach to the annual student rite of passage known as spring break after successive weekends of violence left two people dead, hundreds arrested and dozens of guns confiscated by law enforcement officers.

The mayor of Miami Beach, Dan Gelber, told the Guardian the mayhem was akin to a giant, unruly street party, with authorities struggling to control tens of thousands of unwanted guests and a business community blocking measures to try to control it.

“I don’t feel like some of them are particularly good members of the community,” he said after a coalition of bar and nightclub owners persuaded a majority of commissioners to block his proposal for another midnight curfew for this past weekend.

Related: Miami Beach imposes curfew on unruly crowds as spring break turns deadly

“I appreciate our hospitality industry, they invest in our community, but to listen to them like we’re gonna ruin them by asking to have a curfew for three nights is absurd to me.”

The city did approve a dusk-until-dawn ban on alcohol sales over the weekend, coinciding with Miami’s highly popular Ultra music festival. But Gelber felt that, and the assistance of state law enforcement providing extra officers and surveillance drones, was still not enough to curb the violence taking place during the college students’ annual pilgrimage to one of Florida’s most popular party cities.

“I understand why 18-year-olds want to come here, and 25-year-olds want to come here. It’s on the ocean, the scenery is beautiful, the weather’s great, it’s got a great feel to it and creates electricity,” he said.

“I also think we’ve become a destination for not simply people who are looking to have a foolish good time, but those who might have more sinister desires. We’ve attracted members of gangs, and we’ve obviously attracted people who bring guns because we seize them with regularity.

“So it becomes a pretty toxic mix. It’s not really a spring break at all, it’s a sort of a street party that ends up with a lot of disorder or criminal behavior.”

Miami Beach is among a number of Florida cities wrestling with an upswing of spring break violence in recent years as hordes of students attracted by the state’s warm climate, plentiful beaches and easy access to alcohol seek to party during a recess from their studies.

In Panama City Beach, police made almost 400 arrests for “spring break-related crimes”, including possession of firearms and drugs, leading up to what is usually a chaotic final weekend of the month.

In other popular spring break cities, such as Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, authorities report that pre-emptive measures such as youth curfews and a no-tolerance approach from law enforcement over alcohol and traffic rules have created a calmer environment than the disorder of previous years.

“When we have intelligence that we’ll have a whole bunch of out-of-towners coming in, especially of this age group, we just appropriately plan and execute,” Eric Feldman, interim police chief of New Smyrna Beach, told the city commission, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

None of the cities, however, have experienced violence on the scale of Miami Beach, which enacted a similar state of emergency following two shooting incidents last year that left five wounded, and a near-riot on South Beach the year before that saw police fire pepper balls at students.

Also in 2021, two spring breakers from North Carolina were indicted for the murders of two tourists in Miami Beach.

Related: Coastal residents fear ‘hideous’ seawalls will block waterfront views

Gelber plans to meet with city, business and community leaders, and police chiefs following this year’s spring break to strategize for future years. Unlike other cities that solicit spring breakers for economic reasons, he says, Miami Beach does not need or want their business.

“If you get rid of the things that attract people here, namely liquor and places to go, that will help,” he said.

“We’re constantly coming up with ideas. Sometimes we try not have any activities, then sometimes we’ve tried to program it more. We had some shows, some music, during the day so people could go somewhere and not just sit around with others looking to create a problem.

“But when you get later in the night and people are drinking and maybe getting high there’s another whole set of issues, and I don’t know that we could program that. We just have to close up businesses. I think that if you really want to end spring break you have to have a curfew so people will go somewhere else.”

Gelber said the discussions would address likely causes of the problems: “We’ve been looking at data as well as anecdotal experience and we know there’s a confluence of a lot of different things happening,” he said.

Dr Laurence Steinberg, an expert on adolescent psychological and brain development at Temple University and author of the upcoming book You and Your Adult Child, said college students are often ill-equipped to make rational decisions.

“There always were the drunken trips to Florida for spring break, that’s been around for at least 50 years. Sensation-seeking, novelty-seeking behavior peaks around age 19 or 20, so there’s something about the brain that inclines kids that age toward doing risky and reckless things,” he said.

“But these kinds of shootings don’t take place in other places. If it weren’t for the easy availability of guns, and gun culture, this thing wouldn’t happen. Young adults get into fights more often in the UK than they do in the US, but they’re not lethal.

“So you’ve got a mix that’s ready to be ignited, kids at the age where they’re likely to do risky, reckless things, you’ve got big groups of them, and you’ve got them drunk. All you have to do is throw some guns into the mix and you’re going to get the shootings. That’s probably the biggest thing that’s changed.”

‘Toxic mix’: Miami Beach mayor mulls ending spring break after violence

City leaders rethink strategy after hundreds of arrests and two deaths during this year’s student vacation marred by mayhem

www.yahoo.com

 

[Calypso Jones]

I got nothing to say.

 

[sealybobo]

Spring break parties shut down Miami Beach with mayhem and violence, but the good times rolled on about an hour up the coast in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Bikini-clad co-eds, who flocked to coastal vacation hotspots in the Sunshine State, spent hours on sunny beaches, soaked in the nightlife and enjoyed a week-long break from their studies.

Fort Lauderdale police told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement, "There were no major incidents related to the 2023 Spring Break season," minus two "notable" arrests for a random assault on a disabled man and a fight with a security staff member at a bar.

It was a stark contrast to the chaos in Miami Beach, where two people died, a third was wounded and several were injured in stampedes after gunshots rang out twice over the weekend, and unruly crowds were seen going wild and jumping on occupied cars, prompting a citywide state of emergency.
Between Feb. 27 and March 19, there were at least 322 arrests, including at least 165 for violent felonies and drug-related crimes, and 70 guns were seized, according to the city's state of emergency declaration.
READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP
That's a 27% increase in felony arrests over the same time period last year and 200% increase in homicides, according to the city.
SPRING BREAK DANGERS: 5 AMERICANS WHOSE VACATIONS ENDED IN DEATH
On Sunday, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said numerous people visiting the area brought guns and "created a peril that cannot go unchecked."
A midnight curfew for Miami's South Beach went into effect on March 19 and will run through March 27, along with additional safety measures and a strict crackdown on alcohol, which was announced by the city manager on Thursday.
"In response to the illegal and unruly behavior exhibited by these large crowds during March 2023, and in order to provide for the health and safety of persons and property, the city deployed hundreds of law enforcement officers," according to Miami Beach's state of emergency declaration.
Law enforcement officers from several jurisdictions have been working up to 14-hour shifts six days a week, the document notes.
SPRING BREAKERS GATHER NEAR MEXICO BORDER SEEMINGLY OBLIVIOUS TO CRIME THREAT, US WARNINGS
"Despite unprecedented police presence, for two consecutive nights, Ocean Drive has been the scene of deadly shootings. So, tonight, Sunday, March 19, we will be implementing a midnight curfew for South Beach as part of our emergency powers," Miami Beach Mayor Daniel Gelber said in a statement.
"In addition to a midnight curfew, the sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption will be prohibited in the curfew area after 6 p.m."

Spring breakers lounge on the sand in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 18, 2023.
In Fort Lauderdale, there was a heavy police presence on the beaches during the first weekend of spring break.
Drug-sniffing dogs roamed the sand with their handlers and cops patrolled the beaches on four-wheelers. There was a noticeable police presence outside the nightclubs and bars.
Alcohol laws were strictly enforced and beverages were confiscated.

Spring breakers are welcomed to Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida, on March 17, 2023.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis told CBS News that the beaches are mostly populated with college kids and he's "pleased" with spring break 2023.
"We don't allow drinking on the beach, unless you're being served by a hotel," Trantalis told CBS. "The bars are open to a certain time, they're not open as late as other cities are. We try to curb the excitement a little bit."

Florida spring break partiers see Miami mayhem while Fort Lauderdale avoids chaos

Fort Lauderdale police said there were no major incidents related to spring break, which was a stark contrast to Miami Beach, where there were 322 arrests and two fatal shootings

www.yahoo.com

Mind if I bump your old thread? I'm in my 50's. Never got to go on spring break. My brother has a 2 bedroom he's letting me stay at in Fort Lauderdale. My nephew in college and 5 friends want to come down for spring break. We're going to have a blast. They are all broke and coming down on the cheap. And I'll drive them to the beach every day. They have a free place to crash. I'm going to love it. 50 year old man partying with college kids. They call me Fuckle. Or Drunkle. I even told them if they bring girls back I'll go sleep in the car. LOL

 

[sealybobo]

Only spoiled entitled kids go on spring break.

So true. I guess a few of the kids coming down need to do this on the cheap. I'll take care of them. Drive them to and from the beach. Buy and make them dinners. $90 for a all week pass at Fort Lauderdale Beach I understand?

They're so broke they won't do the water taxi.

They are lucky my nephews dad has this place. It's 3 miles from the beach. My uncle got it for him $130K it's worth $180K.