A recent arrest has resulted in some questions about the laws that govern peace officer authority at an on-sale liquor business (bar or tavern) and public intoxication. With that in mind I would like to clarify some applicable laws.
Monitoring On-Sale Liquor Premises
Nationwide, as part of their normal patrol, police officers make routine, periodic checks of bars and taverns. When I was a kid-cop, I was assigned to a two-man "bar car" and all we did the entire shift was go from bar to bar. We did everything from checking for insects in liquor bottles to breaking up barroom brawls and taking guns away from drunken patrons. Then, as now, bar patrons would often complain about uniform officers being there.
No matter how well an on-sale alcoholic beverage licensee manages their business, the locations are magnets for some folks with ill intent. Historically, these locations have attracted criminal enterprise. Transparency in the management of bars and taverns was needed to insure that the vast majority of these locations became the honest, involved members of the business community that they are today. In their laws, the California State Legislators saw to it that the police not only have the right to check these establishments, but they have the duty to check them. This was to assure public safety and insure the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) laws are being obeyed.
Business & Professions Code section 25752 states in part ". . . no licensee may manufacture, import, sell or distribute alcoholic beverages, except wine, in the State of California unless he/she keeps records at his/her licensed premises of such manufacture, importation, sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages manufactured, imported, sold or distributed by the licensee in this State."
Business & Professions Code section 25755 states in part ". . . peace officers, while acting in the course and scope of their employment as peace officers may, in enforcing the provisions of this division, visit and inspect the premises of any licensee at any time during which the licensee is exercising the privileges authorized by his or her license on the premises."
In other words, an on-sale licensee, after undergoing the rigorous and expensive process of obtaining a license, must give up some of the 4th Amendment rights normally afforded citizens in order to run the on-sale liquor business in a safe, legal manner. It is part of the license agreement.
What is a Public Place?
There is some confusion as to what constitutes a "public place." There is case law that defines a "public place" simply as "any place open to the public." This could be the library, Albertson’s market, the local tavern, inside a car parked in a public place, or inside any building open to the public. Thus, a "public place" is not confined to a street or sidewalk. Public intoxication violations could occur inside any building or place open to the public.
A "drunk in public" arrest could not be made in a private place, such as your home. A police officer cannot go into your house and place you under arrest for violation of Penal Code 647(f). However, if you step outside of your house and cross the threshold of your front door, you may be arrested for drunk in public.
Public Intoxication
Penal Code 647(f) defines Public Intoxication (Drunk in public) as anyone who is found in any public place under the influence of intoxicating liquor, any drug, controlled substance, toluene, or any combination of any intoxicating liquor, drug, controlled substance, or toluene, in a condition that he or she is unable to exercise care for his (or her) own safety or the safety of others.
As started, public intoxication violations can occur inside any building or place open to the public. A police officer does not have to entice an intoxicated person from inside a bar out onto a sidewalk before an arrest can be made.
More times than not, if you are not creating a disturbance and a sober person is able to take care of you, you might not be arrested. We often find a sober friend or family member to take care of an intoxicated person. If not, the safest place for them is at the county jail where they will have time to sober up prior to release. The reasoning behind this is not to increase our arrest statistics, but to make sure the intoxicated subject does not create a hazard to himself/herself or others, such as drive a car, get injured in a fall, or enter the wrong house. As we all know, intoxicated persons have unsafely crossed busy streets and been killed or seriously injured by a passing car. Intoxicated persons have entered homes they thought were theirs, making the resident think a burglary was in progress and deadly force was taken.
A huge percentage of bar patrons are law-abiding citizens who merely come to relax and socialize. And, for the most part, particularly in Morro Bay, bars are well managed and keep public safety problems to a minimum. Please keep in mind that routine, periodic bar checks benefit the bar owner, protect the patrons, and are part of the public trust you have given your police officers.
