After reading in the January 7th edition of the Washington Post regarding the "community policing" in several area bars I find the tactics of ABC and the County Police abhorrent.

I think it is absolutely deplorable the the department would participate in "raids" that cause undue harm to the general citizenry and provide almost no tangible benefit to anyone. Not once in the article was it noted that the officers arrested someone who was getting behind the wheel. Nor did the article indicate that the department only tested patrons who were unruly or ill behaved. The article highlighted the indiscriminate detention, testing, and subsequent arrest of average bar or restaurant patrons who had no reason to believe they were doing anything wrong.

I find these type of strong arm tactics and "police state" mentality grossly inappropriate and I urge ABC to reconsider it policy in the future.

Thank you for your consideration,

Luckily the police state was a temporary "preventive measure" implemented there, but nonetheless, it is damned appalling...

Here's the story:

In an effort to curb drunk driving, Virginia police "raided" 20 bars in the metro area and arrested patrons for public drunkeness.... They did not arrest patrons who were driving. They did not arrest only individuals who were causing a commotion. They were not asked to come to the location by the restranteurs. They came to a variety of bars and restaurants, indiscriminately detained and tested individuals for "drunkeness" and if the individuals failed the sobriety tests they were arrested and put in jail....

How horrific is that? People go to a bar to relax a bit and catch a "buzz" and now they have to worry that some cop is going to come and violate their rights to generate some revenue for the city under the guise or "proactive policing." Proactive policing belongs in Nazi Germany -- not the US.... this kind of indiscriminate abuse of the citizenry is abhorrent and should not be tolerated by anyone with more than a sheep's mentality.... I'll be firing a letter shortly to the PD that ran these shenanigans but in the meantime you can read the full story here: