This is the most brilliant method of increasing revenue for a state agency in the history of mankind (from the Chronicle):
Public intoxication stings catch 2,200 in Texas bars
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.
[…]
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.
Somebody is bound to correct me on this, and explain how everybody knows some other place to go and get drunk. Right?
Don’t get me wrong. Polimom detests being around drunks. They are smelly, sloppy, and just a tad unpredictable, and only last week I freely shared my theory about Darwinism and the self-limiting genetic propensity of drunkards. But this whole infiltrating-bars- to-bust-drunks-in-their-lair approach just seems bizarre. And does this look just a bit on the “assumption of guilt” side?
TABC agents have the discretion to cite the person for public intoxication and release them to “a responsible party.” Or, a person who is so drunk “that they may be a danger to themselves or others” can be arrested and taken to jail, Beck said.
That “may” word is full of implications.
I see real possibilities with this approach, though, in terms of raising funds for beleaguered police agencies. For instance: Imagine the sudden influx of cash for Galveston Beach if they just cleaned up all those pesky vagrants lying around in the sand.