Double-plus un-good.
And this is okay with everybody? No protests?
I guess if a bar is considered a public place when it comes to smoking, the next (il)logical step is arresting people in bars for public intoxication.
So why didn't they stop them from over serving then? /rhetorical
Someone please tell me this is Scrappleface.
Calling all cars, drunk people in bars.
Were the agents buying rounds?
Sounds like typical typical parasitic alphabet soup agency
I was run down by a drunk, hit-and-run driver when I was 22. I have a moderate loss of function in my left lower leg. I have *ZERO* sympathy for drunk drivers.
However, having written that, I think this is overreaching. They aren't driving drunk, IMHO, until they put the key in the ignition. If TABC wants to nick them for public intox, fine.
I'd rather they follow them out to their cars and wait for them to stick the key in the ignition, though.
What's next. Police arresting people for getting drunk in the privacy of their own home.
Man, what's this country coming to when you can get sh*t-faced in public and hop in your car for the ride home. It's much, much better to set up a checkpoint and hassle hundreds in the hope of catching a few.
See my tagline.
We're being socialized.
< snide >
HANG the scoundrels...
< / end-of-snide >
Not that I support the policing activity here, but a public intoxication conviction is far less problematic than a DUI.
Somehow, ya just gotta believe that Ronnie Earle is involved here some way.
A tad intrusive, but "it's for the chilrun." Imagine all the children that were saved because these drunks were taken off the streets.
I also like the fact that bartenders were held responsible for people drinking and driving. A bartender who does not take the keys away from his customer must be fined or jailed.
[/end of statist's rant]
Ya caught the Tater.
Now there's a chief of police that won't be getting reelected.
Prohibition failed for good reason.
Arresting people for public intoxication inside bars is a good way to turn a good portion of the public against you very quickly.
Drunk driving creates a serious danger. A loud minority have been able to push through harsher and harsher drunk driving laws beyond what most might consider reasonable if you tested every person after a couple drinks and told them what their blood alcohol is, however by using the tragic results of a few to scare the majority, they've pushed through stiff laws.
However, when you start arresting people because of what they could do if they were irresponsible enough to drive while intoxicated, when they haven't gone near a car, and there's not yet any indication that they might try and drive, you've stepped way over the line.
The police are going to quickly find that privacy advocates, the chamber of commerece, and bar patrons from all walks of life are going to be very, very upset with them.
The chief of police is going to find he can't get relected, and don't put much faith in police tax levies passing.
Even people who just go to a bar to have a drink or two know plenty of people who have a few too many, but don't drive while drunk, and when their friends start getting arrested for public intoxication at their favorite watering hole, the backlash against the police for this stupidity will be felt.