Miami Beach scrapped its spring break entertainment plan. Was that a mistake?

Miami Beach had planned to give spring break visitors something official to do in 2021, but city leaders scrapped a $1 million festival schedule earlier this year as the COVID-19 pandemic showed no signs of ending by March.

Festival-sized crowds arrived anyway, raising questions about whether events would have helped diffuse some of the spring break energy and divert visitors away from the overcrowded streets and entertainment district along Ocean Drive.

“Programming is very important,” said Thomas Battles, a retired community relations organizer with the U.S. Department of Justice, who is from the Miami area.

He said events in Miami Beach and on the mainland would help spread out the spring break deluge and ease bad behavior caused by revelers roaming the streets. “There wasn’t a lot for them to do but stroll up and down Ocean ... Collins and Washington,” he said, referring to three of Miami Beach’s busiest streets.

Miami-Dade mayor on Spring Break: “great sadness”

Battles spoke at a meeting of an arm of Miami-Dade’s Community Relations Board, a committee dedicated to addressing racial tension and other challenges related to the county’s diverse population.

The main topic of Wednesday’s session was the police response in Miami Beach during spring break and what can be done to avoid similar tensions ahead of Memorial Day, a time of year when the city is popular with mostly Black visitors in their 20s and 30s.

In her brief appearance by video at the Community Relations Board meeting, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava cited the lack of activities and expressed “great sadness” over the Miami Beach situation.

“Clearly what is happening there is just ... a great sadness,” she said.

“Could it have been avoided? I am sure we could have done more. We could have had more preparation, more activities, more care,” she said. “Almost all of the people coming are coming just for a little respite, a little relaxation and enjoyment after a very challenging year. We know it’s just a few that are making it terrible for the rest of us.”

Wayne Jones, deputy police chief in Miami Beach, said the city was ready with its 2021 entertainment plan but realized the lingering COVID pandemic ruled out that option.

Miami Beach police: ‘more aggressive’ crowds

“Because of COVID, those plans were scrapped ... It really put the city in a bad position,” he said. “Either we create the sort of activation to give people something to do ... or we sort of promote, unintentionally, the spread of COVID ... I think the smart decision was made.”

He said the 2021 spring break brought more challenging visitors than in past years.

“We’re seeing a crowd that’s more aggressive. We’re seeing a crowd that’s more anti-law enforcement,” he told the committee. “What’s driving our police action .. is bad behavior, period.”

Several Black participants dismissed allegations of racism in the response by a largely white city to a largely Black population of visitors. Instead, they said the conduct captured on social media videos and police reports — of fights, twerking atop cars, and firearm confiscations — justified police crackdowns.

The city imposed spot 8 p.m. curfews in some areas on certain nights, restricted traffic coming into the city, and police deployed pepper spray when they said crowds became unruly.

“For those in the community who want to blame law enforcement for what is going on at the beach, shame on you,” said Ervens Ford, a retired major from the Miami Police Department who is Black and a co-chair of the board’s Criminal Justice committee. The Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Committee was the host of Wednesday’s meeting.

Debra Martineau, a Miami Beach police officer who is also Black, called some of the spring break antics shameful.

“I am ashamed,” she said. “Because of the videos and the bad behavior that has been going on in Miami Beach.”

A Spring Break festival scrapped in 2021

Each year, spring break overlaps with the peak of Miami-Dade tourism season in March, ramping up the potential for bad behavior in South Beach, long one of the country’s best-known nightlife destinations. In the past, Miami Beach has arranged concerts and other outdoor events in an effort to diffuse crowds and direct the large gatherings away from public areas.

That was the plan in 2021, too, with interim City Manager Raul Aguila in December proposing a $1 million budget for sponsoring 12 days of outdoor dance parties, concerts and other events in South Beach. But Aguila quickly reversed himself as commissioners resisted the idea, and the plan was scrapped as unworkable during the pandemic.

Daniella Pierre, president of the Miami-Dade NAACP, said the group has been meeting with Miami Beach leaders on events that can be set up for Memorial Day, including a fashion show, open-mic competitions and vendor fairs. “Let’s conduct a survey. Let’s see what they want,” Pierre said at Wednesday’s meeting.

“Everyone has a right to visit Miami Beach,” she said.

Dan Gelber, the Miami Beach mayor, dismissed the idea that programming might have helped with the city’s current Spring Break problems.

“Does anyone really believe we should have hosted concerts and other mass gathering events over the last month in the midst of this pandemic,” he said Thursday. “This isn’t a ‘spring break activity’ issue. Our issues are people with outstanding warrants bringing gun, or wanting to openly fight or brawl.”

Miami Herald staff writer Martin Vassolo contributed to this report.

This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 6:00 AM.