Rick Scott talks spring break curfew in Miami Beach: ‘You’ve got to keep people safe’

Miami Beach’s controversial spring break curfew, which was approved by commissioners Tuesday night in the wake of shootings, got a seemingly favorable contextualization from a Florida Senator Wednesday.

Sen. Rick Scott, during an appearance on the Fox Business Network, framed the move in public safety terms.

“You’ve got to keep people safe,” Scott told host Stuart Varney. “We’ve got great law enforcement. You know, you’ve got to figure out how to keep people safe.”

Scott noted that the state reached a 47-year low crime rate during his time as Governor, a familiar talking point.

“It’s one of the reasons that people want to move down there, build their businesses or move or go on vacation,” Scott added. “Whatever it takes, you’ve got to keep people safe.”

The unusual decision to approve a midnight curfew beginning Thursday night will apply to a specific area, defined by 23rd Street to the north, South Point Park to the south, the ocean to the east, and the bay to the west.

As CNN noted, the Commission vote was necessary to extend a curfew rolled out by Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, who declared a state of emergency earlier this week.

Gelber told the New York Post the move was necessary, given that a heavy deployment of law enforcement did not discourage violence.

“It’s an incredible strain, we had 371 police working over the weekend and that’s an enormous amount for what is essentially a very small area,” Gelber said.

Curfews are nothing new in Miami Beach. In 2021, a curfew was also instituted to thwart beach revelry, and arrests and public safety concerns are a recurrent spring break narrative for the tourist destination. Critics say that the aggressive enforcement is racially targeted.