Texas arresting people in bars for being drunk
Undercover agents pursue inebriates in a pre-emptive strategy

Reuters
Updated: 7:12 p.m. ET March 22, 2006


SAN ANTONIO, Texas - 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 drunkenness, 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.

Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

© 2006 MSNBC.com

WHAT THE HELLL!!!hock.gifWhere  else are you supposed to go?

They are pulling that crap in Irving, TX too.

0.08 MO FO!

call it a beer tax.  

Punish people before they commit a crime.  That is great!

This is BS..

So you cant gout and tie one on for your bday, bachelor party, etc even if you have a DD?  Sounds like revenue enhancement to me..

The bar owners can ask the police to leave, I know I would.  And before all of you LEO's start with the technicalities of the law, I ran a bar for many years and have on occasion politely asks the cops to leave.  And the complied..

It's BS. Here's 4 pages on the topic.

The goal, she said, was to detain drunks before they leave a bar and go do something dangerous like drive a car.

Gee - wonder when they are going to start going to gun ranges and gun shows and arresting people for firing guns or buying guns using the same twisted logic?

I always thought that Drunk in public meant public,not drunk in a Bar ,where they actually SERVE you alchohol------And this is Texas,no less..What a sad topic for my first entry.... I am not a real drinker,but Damn,I thought that was why we put doors on bars,so it wouldn't be "Public".

Quoted: I always thought that Drunk in public meant public,not drunk in a Bar ,where they actually SERVE you alchohol------And this is Texas,no less..What a sad topic for my first entry.... I am not a real drinker,but Damn,I thought that was why we put doors on bars,so it wouldn't be "Public".

I think Ron White does a skit on that.

Quoted: I always thought that Drunk in public meant public,not drunk in a Bar ,where they actually SERVE you alchohol------And this is Texas,no less..What a sad topic for my first entry.... I am not a real drinker,but Damn,I thought that was why we put doors on bars,so it wouldn't be "Public".

It's not a public place.  Bars are owned by private entities and as such not considered a public place like a street corner, a park, or train station.  This could be shot down in court with a savvy lawyer..

Why dont we add this on over here?  http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=446784