Texas arresting people in bars for being drunk

[Autolykos]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060322/us_nm/bars_dc

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said on Wednesday. The first sting operation was conducted recently in a Dallas suburb where agents infiltrated 36 bars and arrested 30 people for public intoxication, said the commission's Carolyn Beck. Being in a bar does not exempt one from the state laws against public drunkenness, Beck said. The goal, she said, was to detain drunks before they leave a bar and go do something dangerous like drive a car. "We feel that the only way we're going to get at the drunk driving problem and the problem of people hurting each other while drunk is by crackdowns like this," she said. "There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when they're intoxicated, other than get behind the wheel of a car," Beck said. "People walk out into traffic and get run over, people jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss." She said the sting operations would continue throughout the state.

Now Ron "Tater Salad" White wouldn't be safe even in the bar! :rolleyes:

- Rob

[phoenix_fire]

I feel safer already.

[Osborn F Enready]

It almost makes me want to start drinking again.........

How much is a good screwdriver or whiskey sour these days?

I should say also, I think this is utter crap, and anyone harassed like this should raise more stink than an a stepped on skunk. :rolleyes:

[Sonart]

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Well, at least they can carry weapons if they want to. :rolleyes:


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[Osborn F Enready]

Yea well, we can in Ohio now too, if they ever approve your permit.

Along with that, the state makes public all of your personal information that is on the license. Isn't that nice of them?!?

Click, click BOOM!

[Mia]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready It almost makes me want to start drinking again......... How much is a good screwdriver or whiskey sour these days? I should say also, I think this is utter crap, and anyone harassed like this should raise more stink than an a stepped on skunk. :rolleyes:

Around $5

[Osborn F Enready]

Thanks Mia,

Drinkin' is still too expensive for a public sport.

I don't miss it, but I would help defend those who do from this kind of harassment.

[Mia]

Here in the Phoenix area, bartenders are pretty strict about cutting people off when they are visibly drunk. I don't remember if they were in Dallas or not - I didn't go out much for years before coming here.

And yes, it is expensive. I am back to hardly ever going out, and when I do it's 2-3 at the most and beer only, since it's half the price of a drink.

My favorite SoCo and coke is a rare luxury.

Do you feel that public intoxication is a bs law? Is that why you feel this 'sting operation' is harrassment?

[Mia]

In college and recently at a bar in Dallas, I saw off-duty police officers checking everyone as they left the bar solely to make sure they were corralled into sober people's cars or cabs if they were drunk, not to arrest.

I think that is fair and a smart policy on behalf of the bar.

[Osborn F Enready]

Mia said: Do you feel that public intoxication is a bs law?

I say:
I think intoxication is the intent of the public when consuming alchohol, and alchohol is a long established, and obviously well loved part of our national heritage.

Yes, I think the public intoxication law is BS.

I would base it on the fact that we have laws that address any situation that may arise, and intoxication is a secondary, if any additional charge. To become intoxicated by choice, knowing the results of that intoxication on judgement impairment, does not give a person the right to BLAME the intoxicant for the impairment of their judgement, thereby affecting the overall crime or punishment of the crime if rights have been violated. (Rape, Murder, Manslaughter Voluntary or Involuntary by DUI, etc.) If rights have not been violated, and it is a disturbance issue, the same laws apply to a sober individual as an intoxicated individual. Intoxication should not be a "ruling" issue in guilt of a scenario, only as a possible secondary issue if previous cases involving intoxicants is involved. (which would construe a pattern of association, if I am correct?)

Mia said: Is that why you feel this 'sting operation' is harrassment?

I say:
Yes, but I don't know the entire backstory of "this" sting in particular. I know that as a rule, I do not support "sting" type operations. I don't support entrapment.

[Osborn F Enready]

Mia said: In college and recently at a bar in Dallas, I saw off-duty police officers checking everyone as they left the bar solely to make sure they were corralled into sober people's cars or cabs if they were drunk, not to arrest. I think that is fair and a smart policy on behalf of the bar.

I say:
As long as this is a "known" or "posted" policy of the bar, by the customers, I too would support it.

[ShOuLdEr]

this is total crap, whos to say i am not at this bar with a designated driver, the sole purpous of bringing a designated driver is to have safe passage home..would be crap to find one then get drunk and get arrested for being drunk. This whole thing is just going to get people more charges which = more money for the state....people get drunk then get told they are being arrested when they have a safe ride home, they are going to get violent..i'm pretty reasonable but i would go apeshit if i was in that situation.

[Osborn F Enready]

Shoulder said: i'm pretty reasonable but i would go apeshit if i was in that situation.

I say:
I would too, believe me!

[Jack]

Is this the same Texas we're discussing that until fairly recently allowed open containers in a vehicle as long as the driver wasn't drinking? Man, what brought on this change in attitude? Boy George better be careful when he moves back home. No more of the wild, old days. :)

[Milton Bradley]

Well, with thinhs like this coming to pass, it should only be short time until drinkers are as dienchanted with our government as we smokers are. Welcome to the club boys.

[tinybear]

Well, on the face of it, I must say this makes no sense. I mean isn't the whole idea of going to a bar to get drunk?

[G. Adams]

I would love to see the UK government try this. They can take away our freedoms, but they'll never take our drink! Seriously, they could be randomly arresting people and nobody would kick up a fuss, but if a bobby comes into a bar to arrest drunks it'll mean revolution.

[Autolykos]

Quote by: Mia Here in the Phoenix area, bartenders are pretty strict about cutting people off when they are visibly drunk. I don't remember if they were in Dallas or not - I didn't go out much for years before coming here. And yes, it is expensive. I am back to hardly ever going out, and when I do it's 2-3 at the most and beer only, since it's half the price of a drink.

I go out drinking almost every weekend myself. It does get expensive, but I can afford it a lot better now than when I was in college.

Quote by: Mia Do you feel that public intoxication is a bs law? Is that why you feel this 'sting operation' is harrassment?

Yes, I feel that "public intoxication" is absolute BS. I feel that it's little more than another way for cops to get more of our money.

Any "sting operation" is de facto entrapment. Furthermore, as I put forth in my "Police Tactics" thread, many "sting operations" could be nullified by the fact that cops purporting to be criminals are not in fact criminals, and thus no crime could be said to have been committed.

- Rob

[pubmanager]

Quote by: G. Adams I would love to see the UK government try this. They can take away our freedoms, but they'll never take our drink! Seriously, they could be randomly arresting people and nobody would kick up a fuss, but if a bobby comes into a bar to arrest drunks it'll mean revolution.

As one who deals with this issue every day I can tell you that you are right. The government know that to send police into bars to arrest drunk people would be political suicide and possibly police suicide aswell.

What the government have done with the recently ammended licensing legislation is to make it easier to enforce the law with regard to the offence of 'serving somebody who is intoxicated'. There have been sting operations conducted. If a police officer believes that somebody is too drunk to have been served the bar tender gets slapped with an £80 on the spot fine with no real grounds for appeal, the decision of whether infact the person is intoxicated rests entirely on the whim of the individual officer.

[G. Adams]

Quote by: pubmanager As one who deals with this issue every day I can tell you that you are right. The government know that to send police into bars to arrest drunk people would be political suicide and possibly police suicide aswell. What the government have done with the recently ammended licensing legislation is to make it easier to enforce the law with regard to the offence of 'serving somebody who is intoxicated'. There have been sting operations conducted. If a police officer believes that somebody is too drunk to have been served the bar tender gets slapped with an £80 on the spot fine with no real grounds for appeal, the decision of whether infact the person is intoxicated rests entirely on the whim of the individual officer.

Good, I can rest easy in the knowledge that I owe into the tens of thousands to the police force. I have and will always serve drunk people as long as they are friendly, can stand and can speak fairly clearly.