MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Miami Beach police officers are no longer enforcing a new law that critics believe has emboldened officers to arrest bystanders using their phones to film police on duty.
The Miami Herald reports that the department announced Thursday that it had suspended the law last month following a series of controversial arrests.
The local ordinance passed in June makes it a crime to stand within 20 feet of officers with the “intent to impede, provoke or harass” them.
A police spokesman says Chief Richard Clements ordered the local law’s enforcement to be suspended on July 26 to allow for officers to receive additional training.
