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This Memorial Day weekend may have been slightly less headline-grabbing than in years past, but police on Miami Beach were still plenty busy. They made 414 arrests during the five-day weekend that coincides with Urban Beach Week, a number that is slightly up from the 373 recorded last year.
However, most of the arrests were for relatively minor offenses. Only 73 of the arrests were on felony charges, with 29 related to drugs and 27 listed as “other.”
Another 341 of the arrests were for misdemeanor chargers; 95 people were cuffed on minor drug charges, 34 for disorderly conduct, and 19 for disorderly intoxication. Just eight DUI arrests were made this year.
The 414 arrests were more than double the number of arrests made over the two weekends of Ultra Music Festival this year, though obviously not all arrests on the beach were related to Urban Beach Week. In fact, of those arrested, 46 were Miami Beach residents, 132 were of other Miami-Dade residents, and 100 were of other Florida resident. Arrests of out-of-state visitors were down this year.
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Though arrest numbers were slightly up, the Miami Beach PD views the weekend as a success.
“Our goal was to provide a safe and secure destination to our visitors and the least amount of disruption to our residents,” Miami Beach police Sgt. Bobby Hernandez told The Miami Herald. “We accomplished that this weekend.”
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