Fresh off one of the biggest weekend of the year for Miami, the police department released the number of arrests at this year’s Ultra Music Festival and found that the number were way down compared to last year. When it comes to major festivals where countless people are going, it is inevitable that some arrests will be arrested, but due to several different factors, Ultra did it’s part in keeping those numbers down.
This year’s festival only had 35 arrests over the three day event despite the fact that the event had 150,000 people over three days. Compared to last year, this represents a 50% decrease as 67 arrests were made last year, 33 of which alone were narcotics related.
The overall number of arrests made at the festival each year has been steadily decreasing every year since 2013 showing very positive change from the organizers and the attendees.
Miami police Lt. Freddie Cruz believes that the reason for this decrease is, “education, co-operation and everybody is maturing.”
On the medical front, only 59 people were transported to local hospitals. Trips to the emergency room dropped and overall calls for service were also at a lower rate than in previous years.
These positive changes for a safer festival can be traced back to an incident that occurred three years ago when a security guard, named Erica Mack, was trampled by fans rushing a gate and sent to the hospital, which resulted in a $10 million lawsuit.
Not only did Ultra hire the Miami Beach Police Chief, Ray Martinez, as the festival’s security director, but they changed the age restriction to 18+, and created and expanded upon an extensive list of items that are prohibited in the festival. While some of these rules may seem a little bit strict, it is clearly effective as the overall arrests are rapidly decreasing as well as the death and injury toll. Bravo for setting a gold standard for safety Ultra Music Festival!
