DUI Checks in Miami Beach on Memorial Day Weekend

MIAMI BEACH, FL — With Memorial Day weekend upon us, police will be on high alert for drunk or impaired drivers so you might want to plan for a way home before you head out. Miami-Dade police will be operating a DUI enforcement initiative around the Miami Beach area between 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Saturday. But area police told Patch that they will be on high alert all weekend long for the telltale signs that someone has had too much to drink.

Unlike DUI checkpoints which operate in a fixed location, Miami-Dade police will be using roving saturation patrols that will fan out over a wider area. (Sign up for our free Daily Newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Miami Beach Patch.)

Officers are trained to look for "the swerving, stopped at green lights — and the light is obviously green, people asleep behind the wheel," Detective Robin Pinkard of the Miami-Dade Police Department with respect to the signs of a drunk or impaired driver.

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The patrols will be operated by the Miami-Dade Police Department's Special Patrol Bureau Motorcycle Unit under a Florida Department of Transportation grant initiative.

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A number of bars will also be offering ride services to patrons who have had too much to drink while police note that some insurance companies provide similar services to their customers along with discounted rates on ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber.

Photo by Paul Scicchitano