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Tempe smoking ban goes undercover
The Arizona Republic ^
| Jan. 18, 2003
| Alia Beard Rau
Posted on 01/18/2003 1:05:24 PM PST by Max McGarrity
Four undercover officers who otherwise would be catching prostitutes are now prowling Tempe bars for smokers.
The team of officers and a sergeant went undercover into the bars last week at the request of the City Council after repeated reports that some bars are flouting the 7-month-old law banning indoor smoking in public places.
The team has written nine citations, more in the one week than uniformed beat officers made in six months.
Beat officers had responded to 140 complaints but could issue only five citations.
"They would walk in a bar and find a haze of smoke but no one smoking," Police Chief Ralph Tranter said.
This week at Brewski's and the Time Out, undercover officers in the smoky bars watched as patrons yelled, "The cops are here!" when a uniformed officer approached. Bartenders were then cited.
Laura Kelly-Phillips, owner of the Time Out at 3129 S. Mill Ave., said the bar will fight.
"The city has to lay off city employees and the police don't have time to come down here and respond to car robberies, but they are going to pay for four undercover police officers to deal with smokers," she said. "That's ridiculous."
At one busted bar, police said nine of 10 patrons were smoking.
In some bars, even the bartender was smoking.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; US: Arizona
KEYWORDS: butts; cigarettes; niconazis; privateproperty; prohibition; pufflist; smokingbans; tobacco
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To: All
2
posted on
01/18/2003 1:06:11 PM PST
by
Support Free Republic
(Your support keeps Free Republic going strong!)
To: *puff_list; Just another Joe; Gabz
What's wrong with this picture?"After a record 14 straight months of declining sales taxes, blamed partially on the city's indoor smoking ban, Tempe said Friday that it plans to cut 100 municipal jobs to make up a projected $8.2 million budget shortfall."--The Arizona Republic, Sept. 28, 2002 12:00 AM
http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list
3
posted on
01/18/2003 1:10:31 PM PST
by
Max McGarrity
(Anti-smokers--still the bullies in the playground they always were.)
To: Max McGarrity
Everyone should know by now that smokers are worse than prostitution or murder for that matter.
4
posted on
01/18/2003 1:13:06 PM PST
by
Piquaboy
To: Max McGarrity
"
At one busted bar, police said nine of 10 patrons were smoking."
" In some bars, even the bartender was smoking."
Say it isn't so!
What's America becoming?
Well.....as long as there were no hetrosexuals chatting and enjoying life..... I guess it's okay.
5
posted on
01/18/2003 1:17:00 PM PST
by
G.Mason
To: Max McGarrity
There's been some talk in my community of banning smoking in bars. If that happens I might have to take uo tobacco chewing, and if the pub doesn't want to put out for spittoons, then the floor moppers will be earning their money... Seriously, I'm not a smoker, but on the rare occassions I go to bars, I'll often have a cigarette or two. It really p*sses me off that a handful of whining health nazis will deny me this pleasure when they have plenty of non-smoking juice bars where they can hang out and discuss organic gardening or how much mileage their hybrid car is getting or whatever those people talk about, instead of worrying about what me and my friends are doing.
To: Max McGarrity
Great pilot study! The beauty part is that, no matter how high they set the fines, smokers are so helpless in the face of their terrible and pathetic addiction, that they will light up again. This will be better and a lot more profitable than taxes. These law breakers will pay off like a slot machine. These cops can stop persecuting the poor working girls and go after the true evil doers, the smokers.
Got to figure that a fine of about $100 for the first offense should allow the four cops to earn thier own keep with about two citations a day. With progressive fines and greater effort, they should be able to pay off the whole 8+ million in no time.
The cash is all gravy and it will all come from pathetic smokers who can't overcome a silly addiction. The risk, of course, is that the cops will try to force weak minded, non-thinking drones to take up smoking so they can be cited in the future.
7
posted on
01/18/2003 1:36:56 PM PST
by
Tacis
To: Max McGarrity
This week at Brewski's and the Time Out, undercover officers in the smoky bars watched as patrons yelled, "The cops are here!" when a uniformed officer approached. Bartenders were then cited. Now it's illegal to shout "The cops are here"?
So9
8
posted on
01/18/2003 1:51:37 PM PST
by
Servant of the Nine
(We are the Hegemon. We can do anything we damned well please.)
To: Tacis
The cash is all gravy and it will all come from pathetic smokers who can't overcome a silly addiction. The risk, of course, is that the cops will try to force weak minded, non-thinking drones to take up smoking so they can be cited in the future. They also face possible civil suits from undercover cops forced to work in a second hand smoke enviorenment.
So9
9
posted on
01/18/2003 1:54:41 PM PST
by
Servant of the Nine
(We are the Hegemon. We can do anything we damned well please.)
To: Welsh Rabbit
WR, if the talk's just beginning, it's not too late to organize and beat back the totalitarians. This isn't about smoking, it's about jackbooted thugs who think it's their "right and responsibility" to force other adults to do what the crybabies think is right.
Pueblo is doing it right, and although they're the most visible, they're not the only ones.
Tacis, go soak your head.
10
posted on
01/18/2003 2:25:14 PM PST
by
Max McGarrity
(Anti-smokers--still the bullies in the playground they always were.)
To: Max McGarrity
Can you say "Prohibition II"?
11
posted on
01/18/2003 2:46:36 PM PST
by
The Grammarian
(I despise smoking, but this is ridiculous.)
To: Tacis
Great pilot study! The beauty part is that, no matter how high they set the fines, smokers are so helpless in the face of their terrible and pathetic addiction, that they will light up again. And what are the cops going to do when the first oficer is shot over this stupid law ?
12
posted on
01/18/2003 2:52:49 PM PST
by
Centurion2000
(Memetic Engineer in training.)
To: The Grammarian
Whew, Grammarian...saw your name on "Posts to Me" list and thought I'd made a major grammatical error. Not unheard of, I'll admit, but I'm never happy about it, either.
13
posted on
01/18/2003 2:58:18 PM PST
by
Max McGarrity
(Anti-smokers--still the bullies in the playground they always were.)
To: Max McGarrity
Nice to see that there is so little crime in Tempe that the cops can spare bodies to sting smokers.
To: Tacis
Are you fat?
15
posted on
01/18/2003 4:14:18 PM PST
by
per loin
To: Piquaboy
Has Nevada banned smoking in their legal brothels??
To: Piquaboy
In these days of "political correctness" it is a hate crime and doubleplus ungood to tell "ethnic jokes".
It is also human nature to have to have somebody to hate!
Speilberg's Waterworld was a typical example of portraying smokers as a new "two minutes hate" object as we now move on to Orwell.
Digame?
17
posted on
01/18/2003 4:29:31 PM PST
by
oldtimer
To: per loin
We know his head is, but the rest of his body is probably scrawny and nerdlike. Well, stupid is as tacis does.
18
posted on
01/18/2003 5:28:24 PM PST
by
Max McGarrity
(Anti-smokers--still the bullies in the playground they always were.)
To: CedarDave
Prostitutes, who smoke count as double smiley faces on reports.
To: CedarDave
You can still smoke in the casinos, truckstops, restuarants, so I guess you could still enjoy a quiet smoke with the girl when you are done exercising.
20
posted on
01/19/2003 8:48:50 AM PST
by
B4Ranch
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