Seraydar, Charles interview

Permanent Link:: http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI15092807/00001

Material Information

Subjects / Keywords:: Oral histories -- Miami Beach (Fla.)
Law enforcement -- United States -- Florida
Cuba -- Emigration and immigration -- Mariel Boatlift, 1980
Genre:: Video Recordings
Spatial Coverage:: North and Central America -- United States -- Florida -- Miami-Dade -- Miami Beach
Coordinates:: 25.7922837 x -80.1394648

Scope and Content:: Charlie was a rookie cop on the night beat on Miami Beach, one of the few police officers who actually lived on the Beach. He loved the Beach's ambience and the night shift was fairly laid back. Life was good. Then came 1980 and the Mariel Exodus from Cuba. Within weeks his job became a nightmare. He describes the criminals that were released from Cuban prisons among with the asylum seekers and the impact it had on South Beach, which was a low-rent, rundown area at the time where many of the “Marielitos” were housed. He describes the challenges and the controversial methods used to re-establish law and order on the Beach. He became friends with Alex Daoud, a Beach commissioner and later mayor who frequently accompanied him on his night beat and even participated in some of the “takedowns.”