MIAMI (AP) - Miami city commissioners have voted to keep the Ultra Music Festival.
Officials had debated whether to halt the annual three-day festival in downtown Miami after a guard was seriously injured in March by gate-crashers. Festival organizers agreed to hire more police, install stronger fencing and set up drug and mental health stations.
The commission voted 4-1 for Ultra.
The head of Miami’s police union had proposed that the festival should replace private security guards with city police officers.
In a proposal sent Wednesday to city commissioners, Miami Fraternal Order of Police President Javier Ortiz said security guards lack the training, experience and authority to handle crowds at the annual festival.
The Miami Herald (https://hrld.us/1hpOPKJ) reports that Ultra recently hired the outgoing Miami Beach police chief as its new security director.
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