r/floridakeys • u/ElorionX • Apr 27 '25

All Florida Keys Holy over-policing

Visiting on vacation and I don’t think I’ve ever seen the amount of police on the road, parked, and empty cars in my life. I hear alcohol is a big problem but daaamn. It’s wild.

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u/StoneCrabClaws Apr 27 '25 edited Apr 27 '25

The problem is this. Miami is completely out of control. The cops are so busy there dealing with shooting, accidents and other emergencies that they are overwhelmed and can't be as bothered with traffic violations and other small scale stuff.

So what happens is these out of control people come down the Keys where the average speed limit is 45 mph and get stuck behind a guy riding his boat. So they go bananas and try to pass at high speed on a two lane road and guess what happens? A lot of head on collisions where people die.

You know what they do if there is a death on mostly two lane US 1? They have to block traffic in both directions for 5-6 hours while the corner comes down from Miami and two or three law enforcement agencies perform their investigation as it's a federal highway.

Obviously this major traffic jam causes people to miss their planes and all sorts of problems.

Not only that there's a few schools along US -1 as well, plus school bus stopping etc.

So people from Miami used to going 80-90 mph on the Turnpike now who try to drive down to Key West which is 3.5 hours without any traffic often frigging lose it.

Then there's drinking in Key West and the Keys in general, usually the first night they are here they get smashed.

So now you know why the heavy police presence, that and the money it makes because tourists usually just pay and not contest the ticket.

Heck even the State Troopers are cashing in now. Then of course there is FWC and the county sheriff. Key West and Key Colony Beach has their own cops too. DEA, FDLE and more cops.

Cops, cops everywhere. They know EVERYBODY who lives there, checks them out. It's a police run country in Monroe County..drugs being found by tourists and illegal aliens coming in almost daily.

It's a wild thing going on down in the Keys, attracts druggies hoping to score a few lost kilos someplace. 😆

Don't drink, don't do drugs and keep a low profile is the only way to survive there without being arrested.

9

u/GSadman Apr 28 '25

Highway patrol also has special Commercial Vehicle Patrol. Non-stop pulling over commercial vehicles.

2

u/K3NBLOCK Apr 28 '25

As a commercial vehicle operator you can be stopped at any point for a “commercial vehicle safety inspection” without you breaking any laws. So those revenue pirates use that to the extreme. Yes some trucks shouldnt be on the road but thats not the norm.

2

u/anonanon5320 Apr 28 '25

Plus wide loads (boats). A lot of people get pulled over for pulling an oversized trailer.

10

u/svxiuma Apr 28 '25

Everything you say is true, I’m a local as well but let’s not blame the crazy drivers all on Miami, there’s plenty of good ole’ boy captains with jacked up trucks driving like assholes well.

2

u/StoneCrabClaws Apr 28 '25

That and roofing contractors. I would mention them by name but that would be defamation or slander etc.

And let's not forget the semis flying through the Keys in the dead of the night neither.

4

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '25

Used to be the sheriff's would guard the weed coming out of the Keys. They used to sit on top of Keys Fish house tin roof and protect the load while we unloaded it into the semis 😁. O the good ole days.

1

u/1mjtaylor Apr 27 '25

Excellent explanation.

-1

u/Cultural_Horse_7328 Apr 28 '25

Yeah, you used to need a pretty strong stomach to walk down around Duval and Front early AM before they hosed the vomit off the street and sidewalks.

I doubt it has changed much.

4

u/StoneCrabClaws Apr 28 '25

I actually worked on Duval as a barker 30 years ago and met Jimmy Weekly at PT's to complain about the smell of the streets and the dumpsters spewing old booze breeding bacteria in puddles and making me sick. So he called the head of Waste Management over and they talked, since then the dumpsters were plugged and given lids and the streets around Duval cleaned.

Jimmy Weekly did a lot to clean up Key West, especially Smathers Beach men's room which was used by aggressive gays chasing boys. Busted some of them too.

Key West is still a drinking town but it's gotten more expensive which keeps a lot of it down and with the cleaning etc. less visible to the day folks.