MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Trouble in Miami Beach? It will cost you.
On Wednesday the commissioners passed a resolution to stop the abolition of minor charges.
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It comes when an unruly crowd sparked a major police response.
According to police, the crowd became hostile and disobeyed, resulting in multiple arrests.
“There is a layoff rate of 92 in our municipal ordinance. So the police go out, they arrest people who are common offenders, and they are routinely released from the court. So we are sending a message that we want to be tough, ”said Commissioner Michael Gongora.
He said something must be done to protect residents and prevent the increase in criminal activity.
“We’re trying to let people know that you can’t come to Miami Beach and get involved in criminal behavior or you will be arrested and prosecuted,” he said.
It was Commissioner Steven Meiner who proposed the R7N regulation.
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“This resolution demands and instructs our community litigation team that we pursue this case if someone is arrested and they have a criminal record,” said Meiner.
And if you’re a tourist going to the beach, Meiner says you’re not off the hook.
“We didn’t know before if you had a criminal record other than Miami-Dade County. Now we can check and see if that person had a solid criminal history elsewhere, ”he said.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said this was a step forward.
“If you ask for some level of order, especially violations of regulations like smoking weed and open containers, things like that if you ask, then you are not going to have a cascading effect,” he said. “The idea is to create a sense of order where there was too much clutter.”
However, critics fear that this will take the police off the streets if they are needed for the larger crimes committed.
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“Of course we want to focus on the big crimes, but it’s all a process. You know, people talk about broken window syndrome and the prosecution of petty crimes keeps people from committing any crime, ”Gelber said.
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