Beach Drinking
By giving our police video cameras with which to roam our beaches and parks, the San Diego City Council hopes to create a video record as to why we need their version of prohibition. However, note that this will not be an objective creation. As Bruce Henderson said, we only want “the problems” videotaped.
Unfortunately, decisions on restricting personal freedom should not be made on the basis of propaganda. So, hopefully, citizens who have camcorders will also do some videotaping. But instead, they should capture the much more common picture of law-abiding families who are experiencing the joys of the beach over glasses of wine or beer. This will then provide balance to the biased record that the council wants produced.
The police are already unable to effectively control even minor nuisance and rowdyism. And yet the City Council persists in asking them to sniff into cups and cans, to guard the boundaries of drinking “nodes,” and now to roam the beaches with expensive camera equipment. This silliness must stop. Let responsible drinkers drink. Come down hard on those who are causing the problems. And then move on to other issues.
PATRICK FLYNN JR., Pacific Beach
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
