Posted on 03/23/2006 8:18:08 AM PST by takenoprisoner
More than 2,200 people have been arrested in Texas bars in the six months since the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission announced a crackdown on public intoxication, primarily targeting bars.
The arrests included people who were drunk in bars, who sold alcohol to a drunk person, or a drunk employee on the premises of a bar or restaurant with a license to sell alcohol, said Carolyn Beck, a spokeswoman for the TABC.
The commission has been responsible for enforcing the state's alcoholic beverage code for the past 70 years. In August, 2005, the agency announced it was beginning a crackdown on public intoxication, using both undercover and open operations.
The agency has used undercover agents before, Beck said. In a recent operation, agents infiltrated 36 bars in a Dallas suburb and arrested 30 people for public intoxication.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Just imagine all the lives ruined, not to mention the income generated by those this texas gestapo captured.
This is as unbelievable as it is unforgivable.
Yeah.
In Seattle, they'd build 'em a multimillion dollar apartment complex where they could drink all they want and hang out rent-free on the taxpayers tab.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1601656/posts
Drunk people? At a bar? Who knew?
Seriously though, I've always marveled at the seperation between talk and action re things like drunk driving. Everyone knows where to catch a ton of technically drunk drivers: Right outside just about any bar at night.
But that's rarely done.
I think the reason is everyone wants to be seen to be tough on drunk driving, but its just posturing.
We have a FReeper laying in a Texas hospital fighting for his life as I type this.
He was hit by a drunk driver yesterday as he stood waiting to cross the street.
arrested for being drunk in a bar? whats next, being arrested for being wet in the bath tub?
Someone sent me an article on this and I thought that it was a joke.
Where do we meet for the next revolution?
Part of the problem with enforcing the state's code regulating alcohol sales is "people still think that a bar is place to go get drunk," Beck said. "People can go into bars and have fun with their friends and not become intoxicated to the point whether they may become a danger to themselves or others."
I'm sorry officer I was just drinking to have fun and lost count...
You're confusing the issue. Drunk driving should and is illegal. Drinking in a bar is not. Texas is going WAY WAY past the line in doing this. It smacks of fascism and a police state that couldn't find enough drunks out on the road so they had to come in the bars (PRIVATE ESTABLISHMENTS) You should be very worried about this development as I am.
I am not sure what the laws are in Texas, but here in Maryland someone actually has to be in the car before the police can try to bust them for DUI. Public intoxication, drunk and disorderly, and so forth are another story.
This article isn't about drunk driving. It isn't even about fall down dangerous drunks. It's about facist pig jackboots, abusing the law to criminalize people, enhance revenue, and retard freedom.
But because you know someone who was hurt by a drunk driver, you jump on the nannystate, facism supporting bandwagon.
Sorry about your friend, but bad things happen all the time. I hope you will think rationally about this now, and set aside your emotional baggage.
Someone in Texas has gone seriously insane to do this.
Texas is, excuse me, used to be a place where you measured distance by the six pack.
Freedom is much more important than safety. I'll take my chances with freedom.
The TABC has always used gestapo tactics.
Are you going to sleep in the bar or drive home? Get them in the bar before they head home.
My baby brother retired at age 40 after building up two successful enterprises - 9 months later he played golf with his buddies had dinner left the restaurant and was killed by a drunk driver.
He was a wonderful, funny, loving, smart young man who left behind a ten year old little boy and a big sister that adored him. All this pain because someone walked out of a bar drunk and was too macho to give his keys to someone sober. Pathetic !
some of the first arrests were in a hotel bar where the patrons were checked in at the hotel. facism.
Well, by your rational maybe we should just shut all the bars down, is that what you would like to see?
This Freeper does not have to "imagine" the destructive force of alcohol. The subject of Texas and alcohol touches a special place in my heart, but it has nothing to do with sympathy for the drunks. Sorry.
I always wondered why the police don't just wait outside the bars at closing time, then nab the drunk drivers as they drive out of the parking lot. No brainer. Maybe because some defense attorney will argue entrapment? Who knows? Any DUI/DWI attorneys out there?
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