Tavern League vs Police
Lately, the police and sheriff in Dane County have been stepping up anti-drunk driving patrols and generally being more visible while patrolling. They're calling this program saturation patrols. Their most recent area of effort has been in the town of DeForest.
To most people, this would seem pretty reasonable. Wisconsin is, after all, the top of the list of states with the most drunk drivers per capita (as well as the most binge drinkers). We could use more successful enforcement of drunk driving laws. But who doesn't think so? Of course, the Dane County Tavern League.
Tavern leagues in Wisconsin are very politically powerful organizations, to tell the truth. We certainly do have a culture of drinking... a lot, often to excess. You can barely swing a dead cat without it hitting a nearby bar. Even little 4-corner towns usually have one, sometimes two. And the tavern leagues are also notoriously irresponsible about holding people responsible via public policy, opposing any attempt to curb both binge drinking and drunk driving.
The DCTL has decried the increased patrols as bordering on harassment of the local taverns. They're looking into legal options to stop the saturation patrols. They're also claiming that the patrols are focusing on the wrong people.
The wrong people?
Now, someone correct me if I'm getting this wrong. People drive to a tavern and drink. They then drive away. Is there someone else the patrols should be targeting? I realize that plenty of people drink at home or at parties and then get behind the wheel, often drunk. But let's look at the odds. I'd bet a significantly higher proportion of people driving away from a tavern are over the limit than people leaving their homes. So where does the effort belong, if not focused on areas where there's a lot of drinking?
Frankly, I'm getting awfully tired of the backlash against using reason and intelligence in forging public policy.
To most people, this would seem pretty reasonable. Wisconsin is, after all, the top of the list of states with the most drunk drivers per capita (as well as the most binge drinkers). We could use more successful enforcement of drunk driving laws. But who doesn't think so? Of course, the Dane County Tavern League.
Tavern leagues in Wisconsin are very politically powerful organizations, to tell the truth. We certainly do have a culture of drinking... a lot, often to excess. You can barely swing a dead cat without it hitting a nearby bar. Even little 4-corner towns usually have one, sometimes two. And the tavern leagues are also notoriously irresponsible about holding people responsible via public policy, opposing any attempt to curb both binge drinking and drunk driving.
The DCTL has decried the increased patrols as bordering on harassment of the local taverns. They're looking into legal options to stop the saturation patrols. They're also claiming that the patrols are focusing on the wrong people.
The wrong people?
Now, someone correct me if I'm getting this wrong. People drive to a tavern and drink. They then drive away. Is there someone else the patrols should be targeting? I realize that plenty of people drink at home or at parties and then get behind the wheel, often drunk. But let's look at the odds. I'd bet a significantly higher proportion of people driving away from a tavern are over the limit than people leaving their homes. So where does the effort belong, if not focused on areas where there's a lot of drinking?
Frankly, I'm getting awfully tired of the backlash against using reason and intelligence in forging public policy.