Memorial Day Weekend 2013 after action report

8/22/2019 Memorial Day Weekend 2013 after action report

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MIAMI BEACHOFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER arNO LTC 2592013 LETTER TO COMMISSION

2013 JUII 33 A N 1 1 03TO Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Cofrjmissiort t tFROM Jimmy L Morales City ManagerDATE July 25 2013SUBJECT MEMORIAL DAYWEEKEND 2013 MAJOR EVENT PLAN AFTERACTIONThis memorandum is intended to provide a repo rt rega rd ing the Citysajor Event Plan MEP fo rMemorial Day Weekend 2013 As you know the Memoria l DayWeekend MEP covers the period fromThursday May 23 2 0 1 3 thro ug h Tuesday May 28 2013 The obje c tiv e o f the MEP was to addressanticipated impacts expected dur ing the ho liday weekend mitigate those impacts on the communityand above all ensure the safety and welfare of residents and visitors The MEP sets forth the actionplan invo lved from a preparation and implementation perspective identifies resources and eachDepartmentsole and func tion during the periodAs is typical with ourMEPsity staff ha s de b rie fed and w il l continue to do so a s n ee de d to reviewtheweekend d iscuss outcomes and identi fy any areas fo r possible improvement in future years By al laccounts the holiday weekend was very successful du e in large part to the comprehensive planningefforts of the City that began immediately fol lowing the 2011 Memorial Day Weekend As previouslyreported the Fire Depar tment Parking Department Police Depar tment Public Works DepartmentSanitation Division and Code Compliance Division all enhanced staf fing levels in order to managecrowds maintain safety and ensure quality of life standards throughout the weekend Our Tour ism andCultural Development S ta ff and Parks Department staff a lso p rovided additional support whilemembers of my Senior Management Staff work on alphabravo shifts al l weekend to ensure that theM E P plan was implemented a s developed a n d t o respond t o a n y issues Additionally t h e C i t y r e c e i v e dinkind support from MiamiDade County as well as other local jurisdictions inc lud ing the presence ofvolunteer Goodwill Ambassadors from both the County and the City and citizen God Squadvolunteers We a lso work ed w ith other commun ity pa rtne rs to p rov ide ou tr each and informationincluding lo ca l rad io stations T his ye ar we again m et with r ep resen ta tives fr om the ACLU NAACPMiami Chapter and the United States Department o f JusticeCivil Rights D ivis ion pr io r to the weekendThese g roups were a lso p resent during the weekend as they have been fo r the past few yearsHotels reported average occupancies at approx imate ly seventyone percent71s reported bySmith Trave l Al though crowds were large dur ing peak periods more specifically Friday and Saturdayevenings theyweregenerally smaller crowds compared to previous years In 2012 hotels reportedaverage occupancies at approximately seventytwo percent 72The following is a summary o f key e lemen ts o f our MEP and our rev iew o f the planTraffic LoopA cruising loop was implemented to route traffic through and out of the City while reducing impacts toresidential neighborhoods The fo llow ing summ arizes the cruising loop

Ocean Drivewasclosed tovehicles from Friday May 24 Tuesday May 28Collins Avenue from 5 Street to Espanola Way oneway heading north from Friday May 24Tuesday May 28Washington Avenue from5Street 15 Street oneway heading south each eveningbeginning at70pm from Friday May 24 Tuesday May 28 the southbound lanes will beeastern most lanes of travel


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Memorial Day Weekend 2 0 13 R ecapPage 2 of 4

Roadblocks were erected on most of the cross streets off Fifth Ocean Collins andWashingtonAdditional restrictions were in place on Alton Road517 treet Dade Blvd and along 4 1 s tStreet to prevent visitors from entering the residential areasResidents were encouraged to u se the Venetian CausewayAs previously stated the Po lice Depar tment had a DUI checkpoint from 8priday to 6aSaturday on the MacArthur Causeway east of the entrances to Pa lm and Hibiscus islandsLicense plate readers were deployed on the MacArthur Causeway and other areas of the City torecord tags and to f ind outstanding warrants cars reported stolen expi red registrations an dother potential violations

AFTERACTION By all accounts the traffic loop successfully reduced the volume and number ofvehicles in the entertainment district and also reduced the impac ts of traffic o n the adjacentresidential neighborhoodsPedestr ian Sidewalk Expansion The Collins Avenue s idewalk expansion once again was imp lementedto provide the increased number of pedestrians with a safe path of travel Parking along CollinsAvenue from7spanola Way was eliminated with barricades providing protection betweenpedestrians and vehicles to accommodate wider pedestrian paths Barricades on CollinsAvenue from15 t o 23 streets were a l s o p l a c e d adjacent to t h e sidewalk t o prevent jaywalking The C i t y a l s oclosed Ocean Drive from5h 15 streets starting Friday May 24 to address pedestrian overflow inthis area of the entertainment district similar to what was done in 2012 Traffic posts were establisheda t all cross streets 100 blocks manned by SecurityGuards

AFTER ACTION The pedestrian sidewalk expansion proved to be successful once againEnhanced Lighting Many areas along Lummus Park an d the beachwalk are genera lly d imly lit due toenvironmental regulations pe r t a i n i n g to turtle nesting Historically the City has p la ced lig ht towersplaced in Lummus Park south of 1 0 Street during Memorial Day Weekend I n 2 0 1 2 the C i t y placed50 light towers throughout the a re a a nd in 2 0 1 3 this was e xpanded to a total of 60 light towers in thefollowing locations in an effort to make these areas safer for visitors and residentso Lummus Park from5h 15 streets

o East of Lummus Park between the Coral RockWall and Dune from5h 15 streetso 2 1 S t Street east of the Coral RockWallo Collins Park east and west sideso Street ends along the Beachwalk from 15 street 2 1 s t street

AFTER ACTION Enhanced l ighting created a safer environment for vis itors and resident andproved to be an essential tool in the MEP

Sky Watch Towers A total of four4owers were deployed this year with capacity fo r additional lightingand video monitoring The towe rs were dep lo yed on Ocean D riv e2ollins and 16 street andLincoln Road atWashington Avenue

AFTERACTION The sk y watch towe rs were very useful in monitoring crowd conditionsEvent Staff A total of 75 Event Staff were deployed nightly starting Friday May 24 The Event Staffserved as a force multiplier to assistwith crowd control in heavily traffic areas and at key locat ions suchas popular bars and nightclubs

AFTER ACTION The level of training and expertise provided by the event staff was very effectivein securing residential areasand providing crowd control assistance at key locations


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Memorial D ay Weekend 2013 RecapPage 3 of 4Safety checkpoints on the MacArthur Causeway The tra ff ic management plan inc luded certa in lanereductions to assist in managing flow o f traffic into the cityDUI checkpoint Police from the City of Miami and M iami Beach s taged a DUI checkpoint from 8priday to 6aaturday on the MacArthur Causeway east o f the entrances to P alm and

Hibiscus islands

License Plate recognition License plate readers that use multiangle scanners to record vehicletags were p laced a long the Ju lia Tuttle and MacArthur causeways to record almost every carthat drives in to South Beach The Po lice Departmen t used four4eaders 2 stationary 2mobileDUI Saturation MBPD had a ded icated squad o f DUI officers conducting saturation details al l five5days in Area I South Beach

AFTER ACTION The D U I checkpoint was held on Friday May24 A total of108 vehicles werechecked which resulted in 2 80 traffic citations 2 6 arrests 3 DUI arrests 4 guns seized and 1 3vehic les were towed These numbe rs are genera lly consistent with typical checkpoints In 2012 atotal of 1 2 60 vehicles were checked 2 1 arrests 6 DUI arrests 3 addit ional ar rests by ATF fo rfirearms 4 guns seized 257 citations issued and 1 2 vehicles were towedThe L icense P la te Readers proved to also be very useful and resultedin383icense plates ru nOf those hits 81 1 Citations were issued 5 felony arrests were made 3 DUI 21 misdemeanorarrests and 2 7 tows In 2 0 1 2 by comparison it resulted in1791 l icense plates run whichgenerated 4 2 5 hits O f those hits 1 98 Citations were issued 2 fe lony ar res ts were made 1 DUI 7misdemeanor arrests 1 warrant arrest and 11 tows

Public SafetyThe Po lic e Department in concert with personnel from MiamiDade County City of Miami as well asother jurisdictions and law enforcement agencies provided a visible street presence throughout theweekend There were 382 Miami Beach Police Officers and another 150 officers from outsideagencies fo r a total of 53 2 po lice personne l throughout the weekend Additionally the City u se d 7 5event staff each night during the weekend In 2 0 1 2 by comparison the re were 361 Miam i Beach Po lic eOfficers and another 155 officers from outside agencies fo r a total of 516 police personnel throughouttheweekend

Efforts to provide information and ea rly ou tr each on the Citysarious la ws a nd codes ass is ted inreducing th e numbe r o f incidents resulting in arrests In summary a total o f 4 1 4 a rre sts were mad e an d154 traffic citationswereissued 1 for loudmusic with the majority 84 of all arrests made formisdemeanors 319 as has been the case each year Local residents represent ing43of the totalarrested local residents include 4 6 from Miami Beach and 1 3 2 from MiamiDade County Another24 percent o f those arrested were from other a rea s of Florida 100 out of state 98 foreignresidents3nd 3 5 individuals with unknown addresses By comparison in 2012 3 7 3 a rre sts weremade and183traffic citations 2 for loud music were issuedCalls for serv ice were s ligh tl y down this year with a to ta l o f260207Pol ice and 3 53 Fire In 2011the tota l number o f calls f or se rv ice were248266 Police and 3 82 FireOnce again the City successfully imp lemented the Goodwil l Ambassador Program fo r the weekendThis included the volunteer participation of approximately 5 0 City of M iam i B ea ch employees 2 3 2M iami D ad e County employees and 3 0 ofmembers of the God Squad These volunteers providedmuch assistance to our Pol ice Depar tment by monitoring areas where large g roups we re concentratedand providing information to our visitors


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Memorial DayWeekend 2013 RecapPage 4 of 4Our Fire Department reported no significant and exper ienced an easier abil ity to circulate around theentertainment district in response to calls for serviceThe City also located the Unified Command Post at the Convention Center to better coordinate Cityresponses in a more rapid and efficientmanner The Command Post ha d representatives frommostdepartments 2 4 hours a day throughout the weekend This proved to be very successfulParking Code Enforcement SanitationThe Parking Depar tmentsnhanced staffing provided increased enforcement and staffing of parkingA total of387ci tat ions were issued and 4 3 0 public p ro per ty tows were requested Parking dispatchhandled 2 3 1 complaint calls throughout the weekendT he Code Compliance Divisionsnhanced sta ffin g p ro vid ed B ike and Foo t Patrols in addition toresponding for regular calls for service The B ike a nd F oo t p atro ls focused their efforts within OceanDrive Lincoln Road as wel l as the Washington and Collins Avenue corridors During the four dayperiod Code Compliance staff addressed 350 cases broken down as follows0 Noise Cases 65

o Canceled by Complainant 90 Total Valid 220 Overal l Validity Rate393Sidewalk CafeViolations0 There were 2 4 No tic e o f Violations NOVs is sued to Sidewalk Cafes during the 4 day

period0 8 NOVs issued for Solicitation0 6 NOVs for peddling0 1 0 NOVs issued for I l legal Signswithin the public right of way

Actual expenses for the enhanced staffing and operational support forMemorial D ay Weekend areestimated at10000n ce a c tu a l expenses are conf irmed the Mayor and City Commission will beprovided that information

C Kathie G Brooks Assistant City ManagerJoe Jimenez Assistant City ManagerMark Taxis Assistant City Manager

JMGHMFmasFINFOALLMaxTCDSpecial EventsMemorialDay013Memorial Day 2013Update LTC AfterAcondoc

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Memorial Day Weekend 2013 after action report