Cops to visit King County bars that over-serve booze
Mar 7, 2013, 1:12 PM | Updated: 2:20 pm
Bars and restaurants in south King County that serve too many drinks to a customer this weekend might get a visit from the police. (AP Photo/file)
(AP Photo/file)
Bars and restaurants in south King County that serve too many drinks to a customer this weekend might get a visit from the police.
As part of a drunk driving emphasis planned for Saturday night, cops and troopers who make a DUI arrest will try to figure out which bar served the alcohol, and pay it a visit, a program they call Home Safe Bar.
“I don’t think there’s anything better than being able to have a very real-time example, to be able to sit down with the staff of a liquor establishment and be able to say, OK, this individual was just at your establishment,” said Kent Police traffic sergeant Robert Constant.
Bartenders seem open to the idea of a police visit to talk about over-serving issues. “I think they recognize that it [drunk driving] is a community issue.”
Constant said state liquor control officers will team up with cops to educate bar owners about their responsibilities.
They’ll also hand out “Click-2-Ride” cards “which have phone numbers and access to the taxi cab companies in the area,” said Constant.
On Saturday night, March 9, South King County police agencies, including Auburn, Federal Way, Kent, Seatac, Burien, and Renton will team with the State Patrol and State Liquor Control Board officers on the drunk driving emphasis, which is funded by the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission.
