In
December of 2003, the Fairfax County Police went undercover in 20 local bars to
arrest people whom they felt were drinking too much. They raided bars in Herndon and Reston on
five nights and arrested nine people public drunkenness. Seven of the 9 challenged their arrests.
This actually happened. The cops really did this.
Daniel
Crowley was arrested in a bar in Reston on karaoke night just before
Christmas. His crime was drinking six
beers. A female undercover cop actually
sat near him and counted the drinks.
This
actually happened. They really did this.
"I
didn't know what was going on," Crowley testified in Fairfax County
General District Court “I'd paid my tab, and I was ready to go home”.
Crowley
was convicted of public intoxicated and ordered them to perform 25 hours of
community service.
Then
he was arrested.
"I'm
not happy with the way they can walk into a restaurant and do as they
please," Crowley said of police.
"I don't want to go to places in the atmosphere where you don't
know who is who."
Patrons
and bar owners alike said that those who were arrested were drinking
responsibly and causing no commotion.
Crowley and his drinking companions disputed police testimony that the
cops saw Crowley, though the darkened bar, spilling beer in his lap, slurring
his speech and having trouble staying upright on his seat.
Under
cross-examination from Crowley's attorney, police acknowledged that neither
they nor bar patrons had complained that Crowley was acting unruly or
meddlesome. They also testified that he
did not disobey their orders, even though he declined to submit to a
breathalyzer test.
Pat
Habib, he designated driver in her dinner party drank one alcoholic drink and
it up two sodas. After she finished the
second soda, undercover police yanked her outside for a sobriety test. The cops said that they had received a
complaint about an unruly blond woman matching her description. Then she watched as police tested other women
looking nothing like her.
Instead
of explaining why they were acting Nazis, the cops actually defended their
actions by saying the people they arrested deserved to be arrested "They
drew attention to themselves by their actions.”
Said their spokesperson.
"It
does smack of a pending police state if law enforcement is going into
establishments to monitor behavior”, said Lynne Breaux, executive director of
the Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Association.
At
Champs, a bar in Reston, general manager Kevin O'Hare described police as
"antagonistic.” He said they
"pulled" people from their chairs who were making no commotion. "They're always welcome to come in
anytime," he said of police.
"It's not an issue when they talk to our guests. But when they actually pull people out of
their seats, it is an issue. When it's
borderline harassment, it's an issue."
The
Board of Supervisors actually took a stand on this one, on the side of the
cops.