ScottDickman
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Beach Booze Banter
Tourism. No one has ever complained that San Diego doesn’t have enough beaches. We already segregate one beach. People will always drink. San Diego will always be a major college town. When the students are unwinding durring a holiday break, the beach is the safest place for them to be. "I want to be perfectly clear about this," SDPD Captain Long stated, "and I've said it before. If we take the alcohol and remove it from the beach, it is my belief and my professional opinion that it will increase the number of people who attend house parties along the beach, and it's going to increase the number of people in the bars. Therefore, it will take some of the problem that we see on the beach, which doesn't even compare with the problems we already see inland, and it's going to make those problems worse." At least on the beach, the police have an ideal enforcement environment: they can approach whomever they want, without the need of a complaint or warrant.The police have tools at the beach that they do not have elsewhere…they can approach anyone & check their ID and also check their drink, for a few examples. They can observe 50, 60 people at once. KEEP OUR BEACHES SAFE & LET THEM TEAR UP OUR NEIGHBORHOODS INSTEAD ? DUI citations since the Beach Alcohol Ban have increased since the students have "vanished" from the beach( as the Union tribune editor is naive enough to believe) The student have, understandably, moved. A fact that most people have ignored. Alcohol at the Beach has never been a problem in the fall winter & spring and cannot possibly be a problem when you can barely see the next visitor. The Mayor does not agree with a year-round alcohol ban. The Police Chief did not personally endorse the “yes on prop D” . “These are the unfortunate trade-offs that occur when occur when a few trouble-makers ruin it for everyone else. The same rational that caused the PB Block Party to be canceled. Also a reason to cancel drinking at Petco Park & the stadium. How many more enjoyable activities would you allow to be canceled “because a few trouble-makers ruin it for everyone else.”?We are letting the troublemakers decide our fate. It was just revealed that Beach Ban advocates received over 85% of their donations from Beach front property owners who desire less people on THEIR beach. East coast property owners can build fences out into the water to keep the public out of their beaches. We all get caught at times voting for a candidate that is simply “the lesser of the evils”. Well, looking at the big picture, “No o Prop D” is the lesser of the evils.A Few of the Proposed Solutions Just as we already have a segregated beach, segregate alcohol v.s. family beaches.Ban on holidays or summer weekends when students, tourists and familys mix. Increasing San Diego Police Department’s Beach Team officers and/or hiring off-duty police as beach-specific neighborhood code compliance officers, Harsher penalties for irresponsible behavior— October 27, 2008 3:49 p.m.