WALTON COUNTY, Fla. (WEAR)
In the past, the beach by Whale's Tail restaurant was the epicenter for underage drinking in Walton County. Today, you'll find fewer students and more law enforcement on the sand.
It's a slow morning on the beach for attendants like Ross Higginbotham. He and his coworkers play bocce ball while they wait for the beaches to fill up. He's noticed a change on the beach from when he started six years ago.
"A lot less young drunk kids making a ruckus and tearing things up out here, not as much trash as we normally have seen and having to pick up during the day," Higginbotham said.
It hasn't stopped some students like Middle Tennessee State's Michael Glass from coming to south Walton County for spring break.
"We don't really drink, we are a more relaxed group, so it didn't really bother us," Glass said.
Others from his school have taken flight to other hotspots.
"We have a pretty big group of fraternity and sorority life, so it's kind of like a lifestyle, so I know it has shied some of the people we have talked to," Glass said.
Good news for him.
"Yeah, cause it's a lot less crowded," Glass laughed.
The sheriff's office has always had a zero-tolerance policy. You could say it's a sign of the times.
"We really do send a pretty clear message every year," said Walton County Sheriff's Office public information officer Corey Dobridnia. "It's the same, don't drink underage, or you will go to jail."
On the beaches, they say the problem has gotten smaller in one area, only to grow among a new group, high schoolers.
"Our college arrests have reduced while our juvenile arrests have gone up," Dobridnia said.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Department had nine arrests Monday for underage drinking and a total of 24 arrests since the spring break season began two weeks ago.
Last year, deputies averaged about 8 1/2 arrests per day for underage drinking.
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Lawbreaking spring breakers not welcome on Walton County beaches - WEAR