State troopers to be deployed in Miami Beach and other Florida spring break destinations

By Carlos Suarez, CNN

(CNN) — Gov. Ron DeSantis is dispatching 140 state troopers throughout Florida, including Miami Beach, in an effort to curb outbreaks of spring break violence.

The move comes after two deadly shootings in Miami Beach during spring break last year led to a state of emergency and a midnight curfew in the popular destination for vacationing college students. More than 40 troopers will be deployed in MIami Beach, according to the city’s mayor.

“We at the state level stand ready to help our local communities maintain order,” DeSantis said Tuesday.

“We don’t welcome mayhem,” DeSantis said. “The state has a lot going on, it’s a fun place to be at… we want to see people do that, but we also are going to insist that people respect the law.”

DeSantis said the troopers will assist 17 law enforcement agencies, and a rapid-response team of 24 troopers will be on standby in Bay, Volusia, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Troopers will assist with crowd control, DUI checkpoints, license plate readers and directing traffic, the governor told reporters Tuesday.

The Miami City Commission voted last week on a series of measures to enhance security during the month of March, including security checkpoints at beach entrances, license plate readers at certain locations, more DUI inspections, and a greater presence of law enforcement from Miami and other jurisdictions.

“We are going to see 45 Florida Troopers out on our streets the next couple of weeks,” Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner said.

The city even put spring breakers on notice with a video on YouTube entitled, “Miami Beach Is Breaking Up With Spring Break.”

A midnight curfew was put in place last year, as well as in 2022 after two shootings left five people injured.

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