(The Center Square) — Florida is serving criminals notice: Don’t come to spring break to cause trouble.
On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in Miami Beach that law enforcement will be taking a hard line with people who plan on coming to Florida during spring break to commit crimes.
DeSantis stated that people are welcome to come to the Sunshine State, but not if they are coming to commit crimes and cause chaos.
“When it comes to things like spring break, we at the state level stand ready to help our local communities maintain order during this time,” DeSantis said. “Florida’s a very welcoming state, we welcome people to come and have a good time, what we don’t welcome is criminal activity. What we don’t welcome is mayhem.”
DeSantis warned spring breakers that Florida is unlike the jurisdictions these people come from and that crime is taken seriously and dealt with swiftly.
“Make no mistake about it, if you’re coming here in order to enjoy Florida, enjoy it to have a good time, fine,” DeSantis said. “If you’re coming for these other reasons, if you’re committing crimes, causing havoc, you are gonna pay the price, and we will hold you accountable.”
DeSantis added that law enforcement has requested the state provide support to maintain order during spring break, including additional Florida state troopers across spring break hotspots like Daytona Beach and Miami Beach.
“Florida, I’m proud to say, is honoring every single one of those requests, this includes reinforcing communities throughout south Florida, with over 60 additional state troopers, we’re also gonna have another 60 in other spring break hotspots like Daytona Beach, and Panama City Beach. We will also activate 24 quick response troopers.” DeSantis said.
DeSantis said that the state Highway Patrol has been activated throughout the state, including aviation drones and mobile command vehicles to help with traffic management and logistics and automated license plate readers will be utilized throughout Miami Beach.
“So we stand by, ready to support even more,” DeSantis said, adding that the city will also be implementing bag checks and curfews. “Now here in Miami Beach, a lot of our folks will be focusing on things like traffic mitigation, crowd control, there will be barricades, there will be DUI checkpoints, of course, parking and lane closures as appropriate to ensure the safety of the surrounding communities, there will also be increased security for residential neighborhoods.”
