Monday, August 14th 2006
Police focus on booze. Real crimes ignored.
The Daily Cal reports on Berkeley’s upcoming anti-underage drinking efforts:
A state alcohol agency that traditionally only funds city law enforcement has awarded UC Berkeley police a grant to combat underage drinking for the first time in campus history, while also handing Berkeley city police funds for the fourth consecutive year.
With the $40,000 grant, the UC Berkeley police department becomes the first university police force to receive a grant from the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control’s grant assistance program.
“We understand our responsibility being the first ones to get it,” said UC police Lt. Doug Wing.
What responsibility? Waste tax dollars?
The funds to campus and city police come as local and state officials report a rise in underage drinking, and local neighborhood associations lodge complaints about a spate of alcohol-related nuisances, including large parties, vandalism, litter and public urination…
Wing said the new funding will go toward a number of uses, including minor decoy operations, inspections of facilities licensed to serve or sell alcohol, and presentations to help alcohol servers identify fake identification cards and otherwise comply with state laws.
“What this does is give us money to bring officers in on over time that are specifically focused on these areas, so we can do more of it then we were able to do before,” he said, adding that campus police will continue collaborating with city police.
Great. The only thing worse than bad laws are when bad laws are mercilessly enforced. Besides killing the spirit of liberty, using resources to target victimless crimes takes away from targeting crimes that actually hurt people. Like theft. Or assault. Crimes that have actually affected me and my friends, and probably you and yours. The 19-year-old who uses a fake ID to buy some Smirnoff to drink with his roommates? Explain to me who the victims are.
Now there will always be people who are irresponsible with their alcohol. I happen to think that this problem has been exacerbated by the unreasonably high drinking age. Instead of making things worse by forcing the problem deeper into the underground, let’s try a different approach: Reduce enforcement of alcohol offenses to the lowest levels and increase programs for real campus safety. Let the alcohol establishments decide for themselves how strict to follow regulations. I’m sure this is all very illegal and will piss off the state and the feds, but isn’t that what Berkeley is known for?
None of this will ever happen, of course. I wonder how much narcs get paid…
The university’s press release is also available.
“The 19-year-old who uses a fake ID to buy some Smirnoff to drink with his roommates? Explain to me who the victims are.”
That’s easy. The politicians.
Comment by Beetle — 8/14/2006 @ 1:27 pm
[…] 5) The grants are a waste of state funding. - The Cal Patriot addresses this in depth, but just do the math: $40,000 to university + $84,000 to city = $124,000 to fight Berkeley drinking = 12,400 pitchers at the Bear’s Lair or = 21 ambulance rides for intoxicated students = or hundreds of hours of organized non-alcoholic entertainment, for example. […]
Pingback by CalStuff: News. Observations » ABC - Easy as B-A-D — 8/15/2006 @ 2:19 am
“The funds to campus and city police come as local and state officials report a rise in underage drinking”
Maybe because there are more people coming into this state each day. That solves the number’s problem.
Comment by Anonymous — 8/15/2006 @ 3:41 pm
I think ABC enforcement is generally a good thing for keeping booze out of minors.
Keeping it out of the hands of a 19 year old is a different story. That 19 year old has adult capability while the minor does not.
I think that a high drinking age only encourages a shady approach to drinking that those under 21 often take to it. Why criminalize something already so legal and accepted to a minority of the legal 18+ population? I don’t know why people have to be second class citizens until they reach 21.
Isn’t it another way of government intruding more onto our daily lives chipping more and more away at our civil liberties?
If you can vote, be drafted, sign a contract, get married, get a credit card, &etc. why can’t you buy alcohol?
Comment by Nathan — 8/16/2006 @ 2:38 am
Because politicians have mothers as constituents.
Comment by Beetle — 8/16/2006 @ 3:34 am
Oh, and also because state governments like federal money.
Comment by Beetle — 8/16/2006 @ 5:12 am