The Gainesville Police Department is warning underage drinkers that there will be no more warnings.
Starting this week and lasting through the spring semester, officers will be increasing their efforts against underage drinking. Those caught will be arrested without exception.
"Even though you want it to be legal, it's not," said GPD spokesman Lt. Keith Kameg. "It's our job to enforce the laws, and we will."
As part of the increased efforts, GPD officers will be patrolling midtown - the area along University Avenue near campus - and downtown in greater numbers at night. They also will be walking through bars and clubs, asking anyone who looks young to show identification.
While working to reduce underage drinking has always been a GPD priority, Kameg said the department is putting more resources toward addressing the problem in the wake of GPD Lt. Corey Dahlem's April 2007 death.
Dahlem was killed by a drunken driver on University Avenue during the celebration of the 2007 national championship victory by the UF men's basketball team.
In addition, Kameg said GPD is focusing more sharply on underage drinking because at the start of each semester, new students tend to assume that in a college town, alcohol-related crimes go unpunished.
Usually, Kameg said, it is obvious that people are not of age when they quickly put down their drinks upon spotting an officer.
Monday night, nine underage women were arrested during a one-hour span in the midtown area, Kameg said. Seven of the arrests were made at The Swamp Restaurant, which was packed with people watching the college football national championship game.
Jaclyn O'Brian, a manager at The Swamp, said servers have been instructed to double- and triple-check ID cards.
But sometimes, she said, it does not matter how meticulous servers are.
"We can't help when kids give other kids their drinks," O'Brian said.
Since no one likes to party around police officers, Kameg said he would advise bars and clubs to take GPD's warning seriously for the sake of their own popularity.
"If they choose not to abide, they will be getting our undivided attention," he said.
On their way to a club Wednesday night, Courtney Owens and Brittany Head, both 18-year-old UF students, said they felt GPD's efforts were futile. They said they often get 21-and-up wristbands without showing their identifications.
Owens said even if she doesn't get a wristband, she often walks up to the bar and orders drinks without being questioned.
