Miami Police Control the Chaos on New Year's Eve
Categories: Crime
Editor's note: Photographer Bill Cooke rode with City of Miami Police to capture the chaos that comes with New Year's celebrations. Click here to view the entire slide show from that night.
At 11:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve, David Carpenter, a senior officer with the Miami Police Department, is already filling out paperwork on the night's first DUI arrest. He's in the breathalyzer room at the MPD's South District substation at 22nd Avenue and Flagler Street.
Cops had stopped a 34-year-old man on Eighth Street after spotting him driving slowly westbound on a shredded flat tire. The man -- who has never held a Florida driver's license -- was busted after failing a series of sobriety tests.
At 11:45 p.m., a loud beep tone shatters the silence and a police dispatcher orders, "All units... to seek shelter until 0015 hours."
Though police honchos had pleaded with citizens not to fire guns in the air at midnight, the big shots are being careful.
At 12:30, after finishing the DUI paperwork, Carpenter says, "I've arrested rapists, murderers, and drug dealers, but female DUI suspects are the worst." In a few minutes, Carpenter is driving slowly through Coconut Grove when he is flagged down by a waitress from Mr. Moe's. She points out a woman who she says struck her as she walked down the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. But the waitress wants to get back to work and decides not to file a complaint. Skirmish over.
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| Photo by Bill Cooke |
| Miami Police Senior Officer David Carpenter fills out forms in the breathalyzer room of Miami Police's South District station. |
Cops had stopped a 34-year-old man on Eighth Street after spotting him driving slowly westbound on a shredded flat tire. The man -- who has never held a Florida driver's license -- was busted after failing a series of sobriety tests.
At 11:45 p.m., a loud beep tone shatters the silence and a police dispatcher orders, "All units... to seek shelter until 0015 hours."
Though police honchos had pleaded with citizens not to fire guns in the air at midnight, the big shots are being careful.
At 12:30, after finishing the DUI paperwork, Carpenter says, "I've arrested rapists, murderers, and drug dealers, but female DUI suspects are the worst." In a few minutes, Carpenter is driving slowly through Coconut Grove when he is flagged down by a waitress from Mr. Moe's. She points out a woman who she says struck her as she walked down the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. But the waitress wants to get back to work and decides not to file a complaint. Skirmish over.
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