The traditional romp in the sand during spring break at Miami Beach, Fla., has gotten much more dangerous through the years.
It’s led Miami Beach officials to announce for the rest of spring break, 25-member teams of police in riot gear will patrol Ocean Drive and its celebrated beaches.
It will lead the city to park police vans, ATVs, and barricades on the beach to herd noncompliant visitors into paddy wagons and send them to jail if necessary.
Miami New Times reportsafter an emergency commission meeting on Tuesday, police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez confirmed roving bands of cops will be “wearing protective gear, helmets, and will be equipped with shields.”
Rodriguez added that police vans will be parked “on the sand” to rapidly detain misbehaving revelers, according to another story in the Miami Herald.
The actions are in response to extensive postings on social media of raucous crowds filled with drunken revelers.
Some of these actions have always been a part of spring break. It also is seen at other places where students gather to blow off steam during the break — such as the Coastal Bend.
But it has gotten worse this year. Over the weekend, a 23-year-old Chicago resident Mariah Michelle Logan attempted to hang from the window of a moving car on the highway. Logan fell and was killed by a hit-and-run driver, the Herald reports.
