Fort Lauderdale city leaders said they’re planning to beef up law enforcement in the Himmarshee entertainment district amid a recent uptick in violence and underage drinking.<\/p>\n
The city’s mayor, police chief, and other leaders held a news conference Tuesday morning to lay out the plans to crack down on a number of growing issues in the area.<\/p>\n
Police Chief William Schultz said the biggest issues in addition to the underage drinking are fights and large gatherings.<\/p>\n
The plan includes increasing the number of patrol officers, K-9, and officers on horseback.<\/p>\n
Officials said they also asked businesses to make sure they’re checking IDs and not over-serving.<\/p>\n
They’ve also put up barricades and plan to add extra lighting in the area.<\/p>\n
“If you plan to come here to commit crimes, to fight, to cause problems, make other plans. Our officers will be taking strict enforcement actions at all times,” Schultz said.<\/p>\n
Fire rescue officials said most of their calls for service come in after midnight for people who are passed out.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re seeing a large uptick in call volume on the fire rescue side, between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. in the morning. The majority of those are pass outs,” Fire Rescue Chief Stephen Gollan said.<\/p>\n