ALEXANDRIA BAY — Village police checked some taverns early Saturday to observe compliance with the state's alcoholic beverage control laws and alleged finding violations at four establishments.
Let's get something straight. I am not an advocate for underage drinking. But!
Raise Your Hands If You:
- Ever went into a bar and drank when you were under the age?
- Have recently been to a H.S. graduation party where alcohol is being served to minors?
- Ever got caught by the bartender or bouncer and thrown out?
- Have been arrested for underage drinking with a fake I.D.?
- Were ever forced by a law enforcement agency to purchase alcohol as part of a sting operation?
Lots of hands were raised on questions 1,2 and 3. #2 is a biggy because those parties are going on right now. Very few hands were up for #4. Unless you have been in trouble with law and were an informant [snitch] and were paying your debt to society [community service] because you had broken the law, I bet nobody raised their hand for question 5! These informants will do or say anything to complete their community service, especially if they are not well supervised during the sting operation on the establishments.
Were all the establishments in the village that serve alcohol included in this sting? Or were just a few targeted? Is underage drinking a large enough problem in A-Bay that our local PD devoted manpower to this situation? Will it be worth it to the taxpayers in the cost to the village in overtime for our PD to show up in the courts? Who orchestrated this sting operation and did any of our VB members know about it? For very obvious reasons, this type of sting is handled by either the County Sheriffs Dept. or NYS Troopers. Could this have been handled another way? I have been told that each of those establishments could face fines of up to $5000 each and/or 30 days revocation of their liquor license.
Now that this sting is over.....Do any of you feel any safer {Go to Lock Your Doors}? Do motorists still speed in our village? Are there groups of teens wandering the streets looking for trouble? Do vehicles get keyed while the owners are staying for the weekend? Are there skateboarders downtown darting in and out of traffic? Are there a whole host of other issues that our PD could be addressing?
Our Village Board has seen to it that our PD has all the latest and coolest gadgets....tazers, tactical shot gun, mountain bikes with lights and sirens. All the bells and whistles to make our community safer. The Gadgets are not making me feel any safer. Neither does the latest Sting.......
