Posted
4/20/2006 05:26:00 PM
by Douglas
TABC raiding bars, and why they're totally out of
control [registration required, and available from
bugmenot. login: poots@brown.net password: bronwhole.]
But how do officers tell if someone is intoxicated without giving a breathalyzer test?
One man was pulled from an Irving restaurant on March 10 after an undercover agent watched him and suspected him of public intoxication, or PI. Now he's a suspect.
"We give them a field sobriety test. There are three field sobriety tests," said TABC officer Lt. Sonja Pendergast.
You go to jail after failing a field sobriety test. What that means is the TABC officer
suspects that you're drunk, without having to verify your BAL. What's worse, is that by only relying on a field test, that means that the person was more than likely
not obviously drunk. So instead of busting the guy that's knocking over table and groping the waitress, they're picking out random people in the bar that don't even
appear to be drunk. Is this the best use of our state's resources?