Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Orders 140 State Troopers To Police Spring Break This Year

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced dramatic new safety measures that will be in place in his state for this year’s spring break.

“Florida is a very welcoming state,” DeSantis declared during a press conference at the Miami Beach Convention Center. “We welcome people to come and have a good time. What we don’t welcome is criminal activity what we don’t welcome is mayhem and people that want to wreak havoc on our communities.”

“And make no mistake about it, if you’re coming here in order to enjoy Florida – enjoy to have a good time – fine,” he then confirmed. “If you’re coming for these other reasons if you’re committing crimes causing havoc you are going to pay the price, and we will hold you accountable because that’s what we do here.”

“I know you may some people may be coming from other jurisdictions where they can get away with this type of activity,” the Florida governor stated. “That is not going to fly in the Sunshine State.

“So we reached out to not just Miami Beach but communities all across the the the state and said, ‘Listen, rather than have it to where things get out of hand and then the state is asked to come in and provide support, why not just have a plan going in where you utilize state support so a lot of this stuff doesn’t even happen to begin with,'” he recalled. “And to [Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner]’s credit he immediately leaped at that opportunity but then so many other jurisdictions around the state have asked us to provide support.”

“And so [The Florida Highway Patrol] reached out to all these jurisdictions and we now have a total of 17 law enforcement agencies throughout the State of Florida that have requested at least 140 Troopers to be deployed in their counties and cities to assist with maintaining order during spring break in Florida [which] I’m proud to say is honoring every single one of those requests,” DeSantis said. “This includes reinforcing communities throughout South Florida with over 60 additional state troopers. We’re also going to have another 60 [troopers] and other spring break hot spots like Daytona Beach and Panama City Beach.”

“We will also activate 24 quick-response troopers in Bay Volusia, Broward and Dade counties for immediate response to any incidents requiring additional law enforcement personnel,” he mentioned.

“We’ve also activated [throughout] the state State Highway Patrol Aviation drones mobile command vehicles to assist with traffic management and Logistics,” he went on to say. “And on top of that, FHP Troopers will be utilizing Miami Beach police mobile automated license plate readers throughout the city. This will help identify subjects with outstanding warrants or those that are driving stolen vehicles, so those are not folks we want to be at our spring break parties.”

“So we stand by ready to support – even more now here in Miami Beach,” the governor declared. “A lot of our folks will be focusing on things like traffic mitigation, crowd control. There’ll be barricades, there’ll be DUI checkpoints – of course, parking and lane closures as appropriate to ensure the safety of the surrounding communities.”

“There will also be increased security for residential neighborhoods,” DeSantis confirmed. “The city is also instituting a variety of measures, ranging from curfews to bag checks at beach access points and targeted beach hours to ensure law and order uniformed officers will be patrolling in vehicles, ATVs, bicycles and on foot and Coast Guard Florida Fish and Wildlife and Miami Beach Police Department’s Marine Patrol will increase enforcement along the city’s waterways.”

Meiner stated that he hopes that this approach will stop the violence in Miami Beach. 

“This is a pivotal moment for our city spring break,” Miami Beach’s mayor said. “It’s been a problem for the last several years.” 

In March 2022, five West Point cadets overdosed on fentanyl after ingesting a powdered drug purchased in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, during a spring break trip.

They called the fire department to their vacation rental home in Wilton Manors, Florida. Police said six men and one woman were reportedly feeling ill and showing overdose symptoms. Four men and one woman were hospitalized. The police identified all of the men as West Point cadets, but a West Point spokesman said only five cadets were involved.

The dealer, identified as Axel Giovany Casseus, was arrested on March 11, 2022, after selling cocaine to an undercover detective who received his phone number from the victims.

Casseus, during his hearing on the next day, seemed to confess to a drug sale involving West Point cadets. He was placed in Broward County Jail after being unable to pay a $50,000 bond.

After dropping out of the presidential race, DeSantis made headlines recently by saying he would veto a bill to have Florida taxpayers foot former President Donald Trump‘s legal bills. In his presidential bid, DeSantis’ campaign and groups supporting him paid $160 per vote he received in Iowa.