By Doha Madani -
NBC News
Miami Beach has placed a curfew in place for the third year in a row to try to control the lawless crowds that visit the area for spring break after two deadly shootings took place this weekend.
The "dangerous and illegal behavior" of some of the vacationers who arrive in South Florida in March have led the authorities to decree emergency measures.
The curfew announced this Sunday will be in effect from 11:59 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. Monday.
A special commission will analyze on Monday afternoon the possibility of repeating the measures next weekend.
Police on Ocean Drive in South Beach, Miami, on March 17, 2023. Miami Herald / TNS
The Miami Beach Police Department responded to two shootings this weekend.
The first of these occurred Friday night near 7 Street and Ocean Drive, where two men were found with gunshot wounds.
One of them died in a hospital where he was transferred and the other is in critical condition.
Police reported Saturday that they had detained a suspect.
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The second shooting occurred early Sunday morning at 3:29 a.m. near 11th Street and Ocean Drive, according to police.
A suspect was arrested and a man died at the crime scene.
Both incidents appear to be isolated, unrelated events, police said.
In March 2021, the police broke up several vacationer gatherings after several street fights, leading to a declaration of a state of emergency.
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On a weekend like this but in March of last year, Miami Beach authorities declared another state of emergency after five bystanders were hospitalized for two random shootings.
Mayor Dan Gelber held a press conference on that occasion calling the behavior of tourists "unacceptable."
“We don't want
springbreakers
here ... but they keep coming,” Gelber said last year.
"People continue to come here in large numbers, in such large numbers that they create an almost impossible situation for our police."
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Gelber noted in 2021 that many vacationers had traveled to the state that year due to the lack of COVID-19 restrictions during the pandemic.
This year's curfew decree did not include an explicit mention of spring breakers as the cause of the "ungoverned crowds," but it occurs around the same date as the decrees of the last two.
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Essential services and food delivery will still be able to operate on Sunday after curfew, but businesses will need to admit their last customers in plenty of time for them to leave before curfew.
The sale of alcohol will be prohibited for off-premises consumption in the area where the curfew is enacted after 6:00 p.m., per the city order.
The city warned that anyone who violates the curfew order will risk arrest and criminal charges.
