4 March 20-26, 2025 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | music | cafe | culture | Night+Day | news | letters | coNteNts | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ MIAMI BEACH THE SKIES HAVE EYES MIAMI BEACH POLICE ARE BUSTING OUT THE SPRING BREAK DRONES AGAIN. BY ALEX DELUCA T he Miami Beach Police Depart- ment (MBPD) has announced that it will once again deploy drones to monitor Spring Break crowds. Weeks after the city launched its latest ad campaign to discourage Spring Breakers from visiting this month, the department revealed that it will use aerial surveillance to keep an eye on those who do make the trip. Officers plan to deploy a device known as the Skydio X10 drone along the beach to pro- vide real-time information to officers. The small drone — which can fly at speeds of 45 miles per hour and features infrared sensors for tracking people in the dark — gives offi- cers an aerial view of any area of the city within a minute of launching, MBPD said. “People are looking at us as to how to ac- complish safety, reduce crime, crack down on spring break, and the timing is perfect as we approach spring break to roll out these initia- tives,” Miami Beach mayor Steven Meiner said during a recent press conference. “My goal is to make Miami Beach the safest city in America, and we’re on our way.” As of last year, an estimated 1,400 police departments across the country were report- edly using drones in some fashion, but only 24 have obtained waivers from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fly their drones beyond the visual line of sight, or BV- LOS, of operators. MBPD says it’s the first agency in Miami- Dade County to receive a BLVOS waiver. According to a press release from Skydio, MBPD recently deployed five Skydio X10 drones for traffic monitoring, accident recon- struction, and “overwatch for large-scale public events,” including during Art Week 2023 and on New Year’s Eve. It also planned to use its fleet of drones during Spring Break 2024, the February 2024 release says. But while many police departments have been eager to deploy the new technology, pri- vacy and civil rights advocates worry about the proliferation of police drones and how they’re used by cops. Few departments have shared specific information with the public about how, when, or why drones are being used, according to an American Civil Liber- ties Union (ACLU) report. There have also been instances of police us- ing drones for highly invasive surveillance. For example, during Labor Day weekend in 2023, New York City Police Department deployed drones to monitor private backyard parties. William Owen, a spokesperson for the New York-based nonprofit Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP), criticizes Miami Beach’s plan to use drones as first responders. In addition to being inefficient, as he says a “flying robot coming to the rescue” won’t provide real help in an emergency, he warns that the plan also raises serious privacy con- cerns. That’s because while the plan is mar- keted as a way to target spring breakers, in reality it will target everybody who enjoys Miami Beach, he says. “Drones capturing real time footage and potentially recording people’s conversations are a major overstep and threat to privacy to people coming to enjoy Miami Beach on their Spring Break, as well as residents of the city,” Owen tells New Times. In a 2024 report on surveillance, ACLU senior policy analyst Jay Stanley said that one of the most concerning uses of drones by law enforcement is the monitoring of public gatherings. “That can include events such as pa- rades, concerts, and festivals, as well as po- litical protest marches and rallies. Drones are a novel and powerful surveillance technol- ogy, and they are far cheaper to deploy than piloted aircraft,” Stan- ley wrote. “We shouldn’t allow drones to be- come omnipresent in American life — but signs suggest that police departments are gravitating toward their routine use over gatherings.” Miami Beach has a long history of spring break crackdowns, which have faced criti- cism for disproportionately targeting Black travelers. In recent years, MBPD has been accused of using increasingly harsh tactics against the predominantly young Black visitors who visit and party on Miami Beach during Spring Break and Memorial Day weekend. Some have said the policing strategies and emer- gency measures are reminiscent of the city’s long history of anti-Black racism. | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS Miami Beach Police Department (MBPD) has announced that it will once again use drones to monitor spring breakers. Screenshot via NBC 6 South Florida/YouTube ▼ THE EVERGLADES SWAMP THING HOW MANY WORKERS HAS EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK LOST UNDER DOGE? BY ALEX DELUCA A beloved Florida national park is among the hardest hit by recent layoffs at the United States National Park Service. As the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) move to slash federal jobs left and right, hundreds of national park employees have been laid off across the nation. According to a spreadsheet shared with Axios by a U.S. park ranger, Florida’s Everglades National Park is one of the most affected sites. The data shows that while parks like Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and Tennes- see and Rocky Mountain in Colorado have each lost an estimated 12 workers, Zion National Park in Utah has seen 11 employees fired, and Ever- glades National Park has lost 15 employees — tied for the most nationwide with Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The spreadsheet, compiled using crowd- sourced reports from rangers and other park employees in online groups, likely underesti- mates the full scope of the layoffs. The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), an independent advocacy group, esti- mates that more than 1,000 park employees were laid off on February 14 alone. The termi- nated staff performed a range of tasks, from protecting wildlife and natural resources, to cleaning bathrooms, conducting research, and fighting wildfires. According to the spreadsheet, the 15 fired Everglades employees were among those laid off on Valentine’s Day. The Everglades — the largest tropical wilder- ness in the nation, as well as the third-largest na- tional park in the contiguous U.S. — spans 1.5 million acres across parts of Miami-Dade, Mon- roe, and Collier Counties. The sprawling park is home to a number of important habitats and en- dangered species like the West Indian manatee, American crocodile, and Florida panther. An average of one million people visit the park each year. In addition to the layoffs among Everglades National Park employees, the Everglades Na- tional Park office in Homestead is slated to shut- ter under Musk’s DOGE. The 21,000-square foot office houses scientists working on Everglades restoration. At the research center at Everglades National Park, half the team working on Everglades resto- ration efforts is leaving, sources told WLRN. Sources said three staffers were cut and three took early retirement. “We’re worried about them going in and de- leting everything,” one scientist who is leaving told WLRN. Everglades National Park did not respond to New Times’ request for comment. [email protected] “MY GOAL IS TO MAKE MIAMI BEACH THE SAFEST CITY IN AMERICA, AND WE’RE ON OUR WAY.” Everglades National Park is among the hardest hit by recent layoffs at the U.S. National Park Service. Flickr via Everglades National Park
