MIAMI — Authorities in Miami Beach are saying a “silent prayer” as large spring break crowds once again pack South Beach a year after revelers overwhelmed the city and led police to call in a SWAT team to enforce its emergency curfew.
After ramping up staffing this month and calling in backup, police are bracing for what they expect to be one of the busiest spring break weekends on the heels of St. Patrick’s Day, when there was a gun scare and brief crowd stampede on Lummus Park near Ocean Drive.
More than a dozen police cruisers were stationed in the park afterward, as officers patrolled the club strip on foot and in buggies while large crowds swarmed on Ocean Drive.
