Miami-Dade County police have stopped issuing mask and curfew citations, calling the tickets pointless after Gov. Ron DeSantis canceled fines for violating emergency COVID-19 orders.
According to the Miami Herald, The county’s court system reported a sudden drop in emergency-order citations against businesses last weekend. During the weekend of March 5, courts reported 46 citations for violating emergency orders, all but one against businesses.
During the weekend that ended Sunday, courts received zero emergency-order citations.
“We’re no longer issuing emergency-order citations,” said Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department. “We’re no longer doing it because the governor pardoned everything.”
Meantime, three South Florida counties issued an “extremely rare” joint statement Monday expressing concerns that DeSantis’ decision to cancel fines sends a message that masks and other “common-sense” health measures are no longer needed.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties — the state’s most populous metro area and a popular destination for spring breakers — responded Monday.
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