Former Miami Police Officer Gets 15 Years for Running Cocaine-Trafficking Ring

A federal judge sentenced former Miami Police Officer Schonton Harris to more than 15 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to cocaine-trafficking charges this past January. Prosecutors say Harris and two other cops sold a Miami Police uniform to an undercover agent posing as a drug trafficker, used a gun while ferrying drugs, and ultimately tried to sell tens of kilograms of cocaine as well as Percocet pills.

Surfside Teen Sol Pais Found Dead in Colorado UPDATED

Federal authorities say Sol Pais made threats to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of the school shooting with “an act of violence” in Colorado. This morning, a widespread manhunt for the Surfside teen continues as officers frantically try to prevent another tragedy.

Miami Police Forms Include Offensive “Oriental” Term to Identify Complainants

Using the term “Oriental” to describe a person of Asian or Pacific Islander descent is pretty much a thing of the past. States including Washington and New York have long banned the word from official documents, and the federal government finally followed suit in 2016. That’s because the term has a history of marginalizing Asian immigrants and is considered offensive by many.

A Timeline of Miami Beach’s Escalating Spring Break Crackdown

One might assume that South Beach residents enjoy living in a neon-lit, bass-thumping party zone. With some exceptions, many of them did, after all, choose to move to South Beach. But, in reality, quite a number of Miami Beach residents don’t actually like when crowds of people gather to drink and dance in public — and they seem to especially get upset if those crowds include large numbers of black and brown people.

College Students Aren’t the Problem, Miami Beach Spring Break Arrests Suggest

Miami Beach began its spring break crackdown late last year, almost four months before the first college kids arrived. In November, police Chief Daniel Oates began sending letters to college administrators and fraternity presidents warning that law-breaking students would be arrested. The city even spent $33,000 on a hard-line law-and-order social media campaign targeting undergrads.