Can a spring break crackdown kill a beachfront economy?
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. -- Miami Beach usually has its own March Madness: Spring Break 2016.
In the past, tens of thousands of college kids have flocked to the area, overwhelming police. People have said they couldn't go to Panama Beach, 600 miles northwest of Miami Beach, fearing they "would be harassed from the time they got off the airplane to the time they left," said Bobby Jenkins, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police.
Panama City Beach cracked down after a rowdy spring break last year. An unconscious woman was allegedly gang-raped on a crowded beach. A shooting wounded seven people. More than 1,000 people were arrested last March.
This year, many beachfront businesses are bringing in 80 percent less revenue than usual.
"We were definitely in favor of more controls," said Neel Bennett, who owns a half-dozen hotels and restaurants by the beach. He says many business owners think the crackdown went too far.
"I think when you take 21 new laws and ordinances and you take drinking off the beach, you pretty much told the college spring breakers, 'don't come here,'" he said.
"They obviously went to other destinations," Jenkins said.
The owner of Spinnaker, a hopping beach club last year but not this spring break, is furious.
Sparky Sparkman said this time of year there are normally 300 staff members but "We have less than half that now. That's attrition in two weeks," he said.
Now Miami Beach has to decide how severely to crack down and whether to push the party elsewhere along the coast next year.