Amid pandemic, Miami-Dade police decide to target seat-belt violators. Campaign starts today
In the midst of a global pandemic, the Miami-Dade Police Department has decided to mount a campaign to enforce seat-belt laws.
Motorcycle cops are scheduled to be out in force from 7 to 11 a.m. Thursday and again April 28 looking for violators in seven undisclosed locations that police say are “high traffic crash and traffic-related fatality intersections.”
The initiative by Miami-Dade police seems off-track with policy laid out by Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez a little over a month ago and social distancing rules designed to limit close interaction. Ramirez had said police would continue to do “police work,” but that the department will “prioritize our strategies given the effect this virus has on the entire criminal justice system and our officers’ well-being.”
The ticket-writing operation also comes at a time when the state has been overwhelmed with unemployment claims as hundreds of thousands of people have lost jobs.
The plan, announced Wednesday, drew questions from the leader of Miami-Dade’s police union.
“At a time when we’re supposed to stay away from people as much as possible, I don’t know if this is the best time to start this initiative,” said Steadman Stahl, president of Miami-Dade’s Police Benevolent Association, which represents most of the department’s 3,000 sworn officers.
Reached Wednesday afternoon, Miami-Dade police spokespersons said the initiative was just business as usual for police, who will continue to conduct traffic stops.
“They are going to be asked for ID and they are going to be ticketed,” said Miami-Dade police spokesman Argemis Colome.
Miami-Dade Police Sgt. Erin Alfonso said for the most part officers will just be issuing warnings and educating the public. But she conceded that even when issued a warning the driver of a car will have to open a window and interact closely with police.
“It’s definitely the only way to stop someone,” she said.
Ironically, it was a police motorcycle unit that felt the earliest effects of the quickly spreadinig and often deadly coronavirus.
Back in March all 21 members of Miami’s motorcycle patrol had to self-quarantine after learning that several members of the Brazilian diplomatic corps it had been escorting around South Florida had tested positive for the disease. Not long after, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez became the first mayor of a major U.S. city to test positive for COVID-19, the disease spawned from the novel coronavirus. He has since tested negative and returned to work.
And just late last week Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina also tested positive for the virus. He remains at home recovering.
As of Wednesday, according to numbers from the Florida Department of Health, the virus had taken the lives of almost 900 people in Florida and infected more than 28,000 others.
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
