PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – After two fatal shootings on Ocean Drive last week Miami Beach city leaders held what has become a familiar debate about what to do.
In a heated emergency meeting, the split among commissioners was obvious in a 4-to-3 vote to forego a curfew that would have been in effect this weekend.
Instead, commissioners put a curfew on package stores and liquor sales. That move prompted a lawsuit from business owners, and even the city’s police chief said the move would not make a difference.
Those two separate fatal shootings that took place just hours and blocks apart added another level of horror to the annual anger and frustration of what they call Spring Break on South Beach.
Much of that anger comes from those who see and feel a racial component to the response.
One of the commissioners who broached more unusual and provocative ideas, like metal detectors and making Ocean Drive a closed and ticketed venue, was Ricky Arriola.
He has been a Miami Beach commissioner for eight years and an equal number of Spring Break season mayhem.
Arriola joined This Week in South Florida host Glenna Milberg to discuss, and their conversation can be seen at the top of this page.