Critics say arresting drunk walkers makes them want to drive

Stopping walkers heading home from bars forces them into cars, said former city mayoral candidate Mike Andrews. \n"The BPD may want a zero percent tolerance on alcohol, but maybe they should concentrate on safety and use a little common sense," Andrews said. "People are so scared of getting arrested while walking home it causes them to get back behind the wheel."\nAndrews is among a group of city activists who agree with the IU Student Association that Bloomington Police stress safety over authority on issues of drinking. IUSA sent a letter to city police officials Monday evening asking police to be prudent in arresting drunk pedestrians.\n"It's hypocritical to pick people off the streets," Andrews said. "They want to stop drunk driving but they are picking up people who choose to be safe and walk."\nBPD Sgt. William Parker said the police aren't actively targeting drunk pedestrians. They're not trying to fill a quota, he said.\n"Something has to happen to draw the officer's attention," Parker said. "The officer is thinking about the exact situation in front of him and responding accordingly."\nCogi Hagerty, a local activist and Bloomington resident, said police are acting irresponsibly as a result of their quest to ease the amount of alcohol consumption.\n"The big issue is people driving after they get hammered," Hagerty said. "If the police don't want people to drink and drive, bars shouldn't have a parking lot."\nHagerty suggested using something other than a driver's license to weed out underage drinkers in order to dissuade driving after leaving a bar.\nAlthough he does not agree with the aggressive police presence, Hagerty said he understands the motivation.\n"On the positive side it funds the police force," Hagerty said. "They charge students with something that isn't hard to prove. The cops say someone was drunk and they get held prisoner until they pay their ransom. It's kind of like extortion."\nAndrews said political motivation is destroying effective police work in Bloomington.\n"They're not really interested in stopping drunk drivers," Andrews said. "They only make political points by putting up road blocks and arresting walking drunks.\n"The police put road blocks on random streets, nowhere near the bars, claiming these barricades assist with the depletion of drunk driving," Andrews said.\nIU professor of criminal justice Harold Pepinsky said police have the right to stop people who choose to walk under the influence, but most acts are not punishable.\n"It's an old problem, but under most cases public intoxication is not an illegal act," Pepinsky said.\nThe problem arises when the jail capacity is mostly taken up by alcohol related cases, Pepinsky said.\n"The jail in Monroe county is double the size it was supposed to have been," he said. "A large part of the inmates in for alcohol don't have anything to do with drinking and driving. We lock so many people up for silliness that our jail is busting at the seams"