Spring break: Florida officials crack down on crime after 'gang-rape witnessed by hundreds'

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Officials in Florida are attempting to crack-down on Spring Break crime after a spree of high-profile incidents that have threatened to damage a town’s reputation.

Panama City annually attracts up to 300,000 partying students during Spring Break and earns itself millions of dollars from people spending at the bars, hotels and restaurants.

But the celebrations – a fixture of American youth culture - are often tarnished by crimes and assaults that generate national headlines, most recently the alleged gang-rape of a young woman that was captured on video and witnessed by hundreds of people who did nothing to intervene.

Authorities in Bay County, which includes Panama City Beach, are already taking some steps. The Tourist Development Council voted earlier this week to spend $120,000 more on security and enforce a new ban on alcohol consumption on the local beaches.

Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen, who described the graphic cellphone video of the sex assault as the “most disgusting, sickening thing” he had ever seen, praised local officials for giving him the tools to “take back our beaches”, according to the Associated Press.

Nicki Grossman, now president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, said she was sending a letter to her counterparts in Panama City urging them to take greater measures.

She said the measures taken in Fort Lauderdale – clamping down on crime and reaching out to higher-spending clientele – had helped turn around the city’s image. It had resulted in improvements for the economy.

“Shame on Panama City Beach for letting itself devolve into what it has become,” she said. “Beer, vomit and urine, that's not what we wanted.”

Police have detained two students from Alabama in connection with the alleged gang-rape, which is said to have happened last month and only recently came to the attention of police. Two other men are being sought.

Mr McKeithen told a press conference last week that the alleged attack took place close to the Spinnaker Beach Resort, known to be popular with students.

He said: “This is happening in broad daylight with hundreds of people seeing and hearing what is happening and they are more concerned about spilling their beer than somebody being raped.”