Giving new meaning to ‘Miami Vice’

November 29, 2005

Having been born and raised in Miami, I look back at the area with some fascination. That’s rarely a complement. Indeed, long-time readers may recall my theory that all bad things that happen in this country have an almost direct connection to Florida.

But in case South Florida wasn’t a scary enough place to live and visit, it seems poised to get a little worse.

Miami police announced Monday they will stage random shows of force at hotels, banks and other public places to keep terrorists guessing and remind people to be vigilant.

Deputy Police Chief Frank Fernandez said officers might, for example, surround a bank building, check the IDs of everyone going in and out and hand out leaflets about terror threats.

“This is an in-your-face type of strategy. It’s letting the terrorists know we are out there,” Fernandez said.

Apparently, “in-your-face strategy” is a bit of an understatement. Fernandez told the AP, “People are definitely going to notice it. We want that shock. We want that awe.”

So, when you’re visiting the bank and armed officers swoop in to surround the building and check your ID, remember, it’s to help reinforce the belief that you’re perfectly safe.

This, coupled by the Sunshine State’s new law that allows gun owners to use deadly force on the streets if they feel threatened, will do wonders for tourism, right?

I also grew up in Miami, and this seems perfectly in character. In trying to explain to outsiders what makes Miami special, I’ve always said something like this: There are friendly cities. There are neutral, even unfriendly cities. There are even rude cities. Miami, however, is out to get you.

  • Yeah, all those terrorist attempts to blow up banks in Miami were getting to be a real problem.

    Maybe, as his approval numbers dove into the 30s, GWB swallowed his last shred of pride and begged his little brother for some help? Like recreating that unfocused sense of blind paranoia that worked wonders in those halcyon orange-alert days of fall, 2004?

  • As another native Miami, I completely agree with CB. This sounds like something out of a Carl Hiaassen book. It must be the sun.

  • I was in Miami once and say a guy in a liquor store parking lot with a pistol strapped to his leg Han Solo style. Being from the Midwest I have to say I was a little unnerved but chalked it up to an interesting cultural item.

    Are Crockett and Tubbs going to run into legal issue with this policy? Isn’t randomly holding and checking ID on people in public places an unlawful search and or unlawful detainment? Being engaged in a nominal War (on terror) does not sound like prabably cause to me. Of course I’m not a lawyer, cop, terrorist or insane religou zealot.

  • So… can I suggest to any readers this might happen to, a good response might be a straight-arm salute and a loud “Heil!”

  • I understand the extra security at the airports and some public places and events. But a bank? Or a mall? I resent businesses tracking my every transaction, and I’m even more resentful when the government pries without a reason. How does denying the constitutional rights of everyone walking by make this OK?

    This isn’t about public safety or even the suggestion anyone’s safe. It’s a cynical manipulation of people’s fear to boost the W’s sagging popularity. I guess the terror alerts weren’t working anymore, so they had to come up with something new.

  • I spend too much of my youth in Miami. (I read Hiiasen, MacDonald and Barry to remind me why I don’t go back there even to visit.) This is the kind of psychotic thinking that makes perfect sense to Florida officeholders, but not to sane human beings.

  • “So what happens to the citizen that refuses to show his or her ID?”

    What happens to a citizen who is not carrying his ID?

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