Posted on 01/05/2003 10:31:33 PM PST by DWar
POLICE STATE, USA Cops go to bars to arrest drunks Gestapo-like tactics prompt outrage, complaints among owners, citizenry
Posted: January 6, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
In the ongoing effort to keep public places clear of intoxicated citizens and drunk drivers, some police agencies are using a controversial tactic – going directly into bars and restaurants in order to make arrests.
Such is the situation in northern Virginia, where Fairfax County Police are targeting patrons suspected of having one too many.
"They were talking to one of the guests, then physically pulled him off the barstool," Richie Prisco, general manager at Champps bar told the Reston Times. "They were really aggressive and nasty."
According to the report, officers are hauling customers outside of establishments to conduct sobriety tests, then arresting them for public drunkenness should they fail.
Tavern owner Jimmy Cirrito says it was intimidating and unnecessary to have some ten officers show up in SWAT-like attire. He notes police seemed to be tagging people at random, despite their telling bar owners they had undercover agents inside, calling in to provide specific descriptions of certain individuals.
"They tapped one lady on the shoulder – who was on her first drink and had just eaten dinner – to take her out on the sidewalk and give her a sobriety test," Cirrito told the paper. "They told her she fit the description of a woman they had complaints about, and that they heard she was dancing topless."
Cirrito said the woman passed the test and was allowed back in, but soon after, police pulled another woman outside who had arrived shortly before officers did.
"They made her count backward, say the alphabet, tell them where she lived, how she got there, how she was getting home," he said. "She had just gotten there five minutes ago in a cab."
Authorities say such methods are not new, despite protests from bar owners that they've never heard of police coming inside their establishments to enforce drinking laws.
"I've been an officer for over 17 years, and we've been doing it on and off over my entire career," police spokeswoman Sophia Grinnan told the Times. "As much as officers hate to spoil a good time, they hate even more to go out at 2 a.m. and work a death of anybody that is alcohol-related."
Virginia statutes say any business with a liquor license is considered a public place; therefore, police are allowed free access. If they find someone over the legal alcohol limit of .08, or suspect a customer of being intoxicated while still being served or present in an establishment, police can issue a ticket for public intoxication.
In response to complaints the raids were overly aggressive, Grinnan said, "I've had bar owners come up to me [and] ask what is going on, but I've also had some approach me aggressively, telling me I couldn't be there and I was violating their constitutional rights. We love to give explanations of what we're doing because it has an impact, but officers don't have to give up their game plan. That is just a courtesy."
In the wake of the published report, citizens appear to be siding with the bar owners and patrons, gauging from posts in an online messageboard.
"The way police are handling the drink situation is the biggest B.S. I have ever heard of," wrote Ray Williams.
"I lost a son (at age 16) a few years ago, and I most certainly support stopping anyone from drinking and driving. However, this police raid that seems to take place at some local bars is just totally crazy. ... Are we now living in a communist environment where we are not allowed to do anything without being harassed by the military/police?"
Russ Heisinger of Northport, N.Y., asked: "What is next, the alcohol police entering your home on Super Bowl Sunday, and inviting you outside to take a breath test? A solution would be for all the bar and restaurant owners to become 'private clubs,' and charge a very nominal fee for membership. However, the true solution is for the 'Barney Fifes' there to uphold the part of the Constitution about unlawful search, and to remember that we are after all, a free society, unless the cops think this is Baghdad!"
Others, like Don Armstrong, urged people to reject field sobriety tests, and request a blood-alcohol test at a local hospital.
"I have a form of arthritis that often affects my speech patterns and walking abilities," he wrote. "Under their standards of an acceptable set of motor functions, I would fail even if I never had an alcoholic drink."
There are very few police who apprehend criminals – the majority spend their time “processing victims”for the FBI database: Name, Address, Phone #, SSN, Race, Age, Height, Weight, Sexual Preference, etc.
Thank God law enforcement have finally been given the OK to rid our nation of drunks. Drunks WHO WILL DRIVE eventually. Police in any state in any city should be allowed to go into any bar and arrest anybody who is drunk.
Why wait until they get in their car and kill some child?
Not only should they be arrested for public intoxication, but their drivers license should automatically be revoked for at least 36 hours.
GO FAIRFAX POLICE!!!
.08 has absolutely no relation to any form of "peak intoxication" whatsoever. In fact, many studies show that a moderate level of acohol (.08) actually show an increase in cognitive thinking and motor skills.
People at .08 BAC would not feel any effects of alcohol. I have actually had fun with this with a small hand held breathlyzer. When people just begin to feel buzzed off alcohol they are already WAY over the legal limit.
Have you ever drinken to the point where you just begin to feel that light buzz? Maybe just a little bit more relaxed or loose than being sober? That is what the state considers excessive intoxication. Now go report yourself in.
Did you just sober up, or are you trying to start a flame war with your incendiary comments?
Why? To defend your "sensibilty"? It isn't your business to control the behavior of others, until you are injured. That does not mean physically, but something which lowers your life's value...
Nobody likes a drunk, but the door is always there... for you, too.
if the logic is:
a bar is a public place therefore a cop can go in a bar an arrest any one over the legal limit for being drunk in public...
by the same logic that you can not drink in public...it's illegal to drink in a bar...
and by the same logic that you can not have an open container in public...it's illegal to have an open container in a bar...
" ....arresting someone in a bar for a BAC of 0.08% !?"
Well, I guess that takes care of any probable cause hurdles, doesn't it?
damn, i did it too. who brings these threads back?
Implied Consent nothing... Didn't you know we're at war, so whatever the Police need to do to stop evil doers...
Why do you hate Freedom?
/sarcasm
It would appear to be a tactic to drive a particular bar out of business, rather than a crack down on drunks. I witnessed similar actions a dozen years ago against one of my favorite watering holes. Its offense was to cater to Harley riders – good rock and roll and a reserved for Harleys only parking section. There were never any guns, knives or serious fights, but the sight of Bikers having a good time was abhorrent to some of the Powers in town.
It started at lunch. The Fire Safety inspectors came in and went over every square inch – and found a violation. A curtain separating the kitchen from the dinning area was too close to an “electrical appliance” – a light switch. The ABC agents conducted a sweep, the local police, DEA and BATF were all in force. There might even been FBI.
The only violation found was the curtain.
This continued on a regular basis until the lady sold the place.
Well, I'm not in favor of public stupidness, either - but I don't want to see anyone arrested for it (despite how gratifying it would be to see half the Demonrat party in the pokey). Unless you're creating a public disturbance, you should be allowed to be a drunk, stupid, Democrat, fat, lazy, smoker, and a hundered other things that I'm not in favor of.
Well, "public intoxication" and DUI are two completely different things-- how in the world do they get away with using the same blood alcohol level for both? I know that I don't drive as well after even a small amount of alcohol, but I am my normal sedate, polite self even after having had quite a bit to drink.
This sort of thing truly is police-state behavior.
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