Fun Time or Jail Time - Case Study Example

Even though the police had a right to maintain law and order in Miami Beach during the festive season, they have no right to arrest people who are trying to find out why their friends have been arrested. The police also needed to be sensitive to the fact that the visitors to the city had come from different States with different cultures. These visitors were therefore inclined to engage in behaviors that were weird and strange to other people. Such should not attract arrests but only a warning. I think that the police had directives from the Police chief to make a certain number of arrests to show that they were really working hard. This is the reason why they ended up arresting anyone whom they thought was breaking the law, which in some circumstances did not exist. An example is there was not law outlawing arguing with friends after having a drink. But the police interpreted this as a sign of misdemeanors.
What the police department does is to come up with stringent laws that they do not expect to be followed by hundreds of becoming who have come down the beach to have fun. Someone would not expect that laws such as drinking, loud music, or even prohibiting littering will adhere to people especially the youth who are coming down to lay their stress. “Increasing the number of arrests is yet another way they have tried to control the rowdy people that come down for the weekend. They enforce laws such as open containers, illegal parking, and loud music”. This seems to be their motto. I think what the Miami Beach police does is to deliberately come up with laws that they know very well that it is difficult to adhere to especially with a crowded and excited people. Read More