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Miami Beach activates license plate readers, traffic loop as Memorial Day tourists arrive

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – The Memorial Day celebration is already ongoing in South Beach. For some, it means the return of the Hyundai Air and Sea Show off Ocean Drive starting Friday. For others, it means partying with friends.

Sometimes it can get wild. Rowdy crowds dance on cars. Reckless drivers do donuts on the street, or there are fights or shootings. City leaders and police officers want to avoid the chaos.

License plate readers were deployed Thursday night on both MacArthur and Julia Tuttle causeways and security personnel started blocking residential areas off to through traffic.

Officers from other jurisdictions around South Florida will be on hand Friday.

“So many people are anxious to get out,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said on Wednesday. “They’re coming here in droves. And too many of them are coming with the intention to act out.”

Already on Wednesday, Zacoree Hopkins, a 21-year-old pregnant woman from Missouri, was arrested for allegedly shooting another woman.

There won’t be a curfew. For more information on the city’s Memorial Day rules and changes, visit this page.

AFTERNOON REPORT


About the Authors
Janine Stanwood headshot

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.

Andrea Torres headshot

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.

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