Only in Texas I guess.

[hoat]

Link

Finding drunks in a bar -- what are the chances?

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 drunkeness, 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.

 

[buckeyefool]

I would assume that this is going to face some serious opposition in the near future. Seems that bars and resturants woul dreally pool their efforts to fight this. If someone wants to get hammered then let them as long as they are safe about it, be it a DD or call a cab.

Whats next? you can't drink in your home because you might fall down the stairs or wander out into traffic?

 

[OSUScoonie12]

Haha, that is such a stupid idea. Bars are going to get so mad because people wont go there anymore b/c they will think they will get arrested. Texas has some messed up ideas.

 

[Taosman]

Texas has a large number of Evangelicals who view drinking as a sin.
And if given a chance will outlaw all drinking in Texas.

 

[AJHawkfan]

And if given a chance will outlaw all drinking in Texas.

I say go for it. That just leaves more beer for me!

 

[exhawg]

I see this 2 ways. They arrested less than 1 person per bar so it isn't like they were rounding up everyone who had a few drinks and took them to jail. They were probably limiting the scope to people who were so drunk they could barely stand. I also hope they didn't arrest anyone who wasn't planning on driving.
On the other side some of the bars they hit were in hotels, and I would be very pissed if I got arrested for drinking in a hotel bar if I was staying at the hotel. I sincerely hope the cops aren't that stupid. I think it would be much better for the cops to wait outside the bar and follow people when they leave. If someone looks drunk and tries to get in the drivers seat arrest them.

 

[buckeyefool]

I see this 2 ways. They arrested less than 1 person per bar so it isn't like they were rounding up everyone who had a few drinks and took them to jail. They were probably limiting the scope to people who were so drunk they could barely stand. I also hope they didn't arrest anyone who wasn't planning on driving.
On the other side some of the bars they hit were in hotels, and I would be very pissed if I got arrested for drinking in a hotel bar if I was staying at the hotel. I sincerely hope the cops aren't that stupid. I think it would be much better for the cops to wait outside the bar and follow people when they leave. If someone looks drunk and tries to get in the drivers seat arrest them.

Agree with you over all. In addition to this but most bars are not going to serve someone to the point where they pass out because it just creates more of a headache for the owners and the employees.

I dn't know what the laws in Texas are but I know in Ohio if a server serves someone to intoxication and do not make an effort to keep them from driving etc, not only can the business be sued but the server/bartender is also liable in that case and can be sued for damages for up to two years after the incident including loss of future wages.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

If adults would just quit thinking they are entitled to make their own choices in life, we wouldn't have any of these fucking problems.

 

[Dryden]

I see this 2 ways. They arrested less than 1 person per bar so it isn't like they were rounding up everyone who had a few drinks and took them to jail. They were probably limiting the scope to people who were so drunk they could barely stand. I also hope they didn't arrest anyone who wasn't planning on driving.
On the other side some of the bars they hit were in hotels, and I would be very pissed if I got arrested for drinking in a hotel bar if I was staying at the hotel. I sincerely hope the cops aren't that stupid. I think it would be much better for the cops to wait outside the bar and follow people when they leave. If someone looks drunk and tries to get in the drivers seat arrest them.

Good points ... agree on all counts. But, as a person who travelled for a living for a number of years, I can guarantee that at any given time, 25 - 50% of people at a hotel lounge are not guests of the hotel. Many people go to their local hotel because it's a quieter, more discrete scene than their local bars, many go as guests or friends of the bartender, some go because they're attending a seminar or meeting at one of the hotel ballrooms already, so they stop for a drink on their way in or out, and many are single people looking for a business traveller of the opposite sex for a one-night stand.

A large number of vicious crimes occur "after hours" when a single person takes a stranger back up to their hotel room for a quickie. Ask Kobe.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

Well, I'm off to the bar at the Hyatt. Wish me luck

 

[gbearbuck]

If a bar is private property, how can you be publicly intoxicated in a bar?

Columbus sends undercover into bars, waits for you to leave and if you get into the car with intent to drive (enter on the drivers side door), they will arrest you. I have no problem with that, however arresting you in a bar is nonsense. What happens if you took a taxi home, or had your wife pick you up (fyi: she is usually pissed, so only do it when you know you're hammered )???

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

that'll be enough thinking out of you, gbear. Anymore of that, and we'll have to take you down town.

 

[High Lonesome]

There is lots of pressure in dallas to crack down on drinking and driving due to the fact that MADD is located here. its crazy but it is happening....there are more than a few nervous bar tenders worried about getting in trouble for serving overly intoxicated patrons

 

[Tlangs]

Fox News article about Texas arrests

Shooting Fish in a Barrel
Thursday, March 23, 2006
By John Gibson

ARCHIVE SHOW INFO
•Shooting Fish in a Barrel

If you know your way around a barstool, this might come as shocking news: In Texas, cops are now going into bars and arresting people in the bar for being drunk. I repeat: Cops are arresting you for being drunk... in a bar.

This is no isolated incident either.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Control is doing sweeps of bars and pubs, including hotel bars, where an over-refreshed guest only has to take the elevator to get home. In these bars they are arresting people for having one or two or three too many.

The Texas Alcohol Beverage Control agency captain named David Alexander, who was interviewed about these raids, said the following: "Going to a bar is not an opportunity to go get drunk. It's to have a good time, but not to get drunk."

I really do wonder what Captain Alexander thinks goes on in bars. Bars exist to sell alcohol — that's why they're licensed. And when the bartender sells alcohol there is a fairly reasonable expectation someone might get drunk.

I will make this shocking personal revelation. This has actually happened to me once or twice in my life. Really — even me.

(Story continues below)

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Now, if the booze cops were going in a bar to pop someone who won't stop drinking when they're falling down drunk, I guess that might be a reasonable explanation.

But to say we're going to go into dozens of bars on sweeps looking for drunks? Officer, excuse me, but this is shooting fish in a barrel.

Where would be the No. 1 place to find drunks? Churches? No. Schools? I hope not. TV newsrooms? Maybe. Bars? Yes! Bingo! Way to go, Sherlock.

I have even heard that some police officers hang around outside bars looking for drunks who come out and get in their car and start to drive. OK, fair enough. The drunk should know he can't drive and call a cab.

What I think may be going on is that the Texas Alcohol Beverage Control Board may have become populated with teetotalers who are against drinking and want to stamp it out everywhere. If so, they're in the wrong line of work. They should become legislators and try to get that law passed — again. They might also look over the history of the Volstead Act. Prohibition didn't work out so well.

Oh, one more place you might find people drinking: any football game, baseball game, oh and NASCAR races. I hear drinking is big there too.

That's My Word.

Don't forget my radio show. Check it out here!

Watch John Gibson weekdays at 5 p.m. ET on "The Big Story" and send your comments to: [email protected]

Read Your Word

 

[martinss01]

"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.

oh for the love of god! can someone please explain to me why it is we keep handicapping mother nature? let her do her friggin job already! weeding out the weak, its kinda her gig n all.

edit: ima goud spellar!