Tens of thousands of fans are expected to come to South Beach before the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday.
And, the Miami Beach Police Department has been beefing up security for months in preparation, giving CBS News Miami an inside look at how its officers are working to keep everyone safe.
Grant McBride is in town to watch his Indiana Hoosiers potentially make history. He told CBS News Miami he has been to South Beach before and is glad police are visible.
“Makes you feel comfortable, but I’ve never really felt unsafe before,” McBride said.
Police escorts were in place as players got on and off the team buses at the convention center. Miami Hurricanes fan Oscar is from South Florida and said he’s seen policing evolve on South Beach.
“I think that has changed and significantly, police are doing well to uphold security in the city,” Oscar told CBS News Miami.
Miami Beach Police have made investments in technology over the past few years. Police told CBS News Miami that weekends like this are why they have it in place.
“Our team for months now has been preparing for this weekend,” said Public Information Officer Christopher Bess of Miami Beach Police.
Bess said every officer will work the weekend, adding that the department’s real-time intelligence center will be used by centralizing all of the city’s surveillance camera feeds.
“We are utilizing over 1,000 cameras citywide to ensure our detectives don’t miss anything,” he said. “But also to serve as operational support for the boots on the ground.”
On top of that, police have a new drone that can scan the beach and any area with dense foot traffic.
“That’s actually the roof of our headquarter so Eagle One is being deployed from our roof,” Bess said.
Oscar told CBS News Miami these measures are why he’s comfortable going to the beach with big crowds.
“Yeah, I think we’re pretty much safe there,” he said.
Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne Jones has said his goal is to have every public space in the city covered with a camera.
