The controversial police tactic of arresting drunks at bars and restaurants has gone to a new level, to include intoxicated people at hotels, even those who are registered guests with no plans on driving.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission along with Irving police arrested some 30 people on charges of public intoxication last weekend during a sweep of 36 area pubs.
The agency called it a proactive measure to slam the brakes on drunk driving.
"Your state sucks!" one woman being arrested shouted to authorities, as she was caught on camera by KXAS-TV, the local NBC affiliate in Fort Worth.
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Some of the suspects arrested at a hotel bar stressed they were registered to spend the night there, and were not a danger to themselves or others.
"Going to a bar is not an opportunity to go get drunk," TABC Capt. David Alexander told the station. "It's to have a good time but not to get drunk."
But that attitude is being greeted with harsh criticism from many across the Internet, who feel the police are going too far with their power.
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- "This is reminiscent of a police state action. Completely out of line. What's next? Coming into our houses and arresting us?"
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- "I think this is insanity. Being drunk in a bar is not public intoxication. The legislative intent of those statutes obviously was not to criminalize drinking in a bar. Will someone please put together a class action lawsuit against states that go nuts?"
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- "I hope somebody sues the s--- out of them. I thought the law was about public intoxication. These people were in a private establishment and should not have been arrested unless/until they went out on a public street."
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- "What I love about this story is that we are always told there are not enough local resources to arrest illegal immigrants. Seems like the cops always have enough resources to hassle American citizens, however."
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Regarding laws on public intoxication, Texas statutes say: "Public place" means any place to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access and includes, but is not limited to, streets, highways, and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transport facilities, and shops.
As WorldNetDaily previously reported, similar programs have been taking place across the U.S., including Fairfax County, Va., where police have been going directly to bars to arrest people for public drunkenness.
Police target patrons who are suspected of having one too many, taking them outside to administer intoxication tests.
"[Officers] were talking to one of the guests, then physically pulled him off the barstool," said Richie Prisco, general manager at Champps bar. "They were really aggressive and nasty."
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Cops go to bars to arrest drunks