Monday, January 01, 2007

Paula and The Iowa City Police

I Get! Really I do. Last month I was irate because the ICPD couldn’t find one serial rapist. Now, I understand. Actually I understood that about three weeks ago, but it took me this long to post about it. After reading a Daily Iowan article I see why crime goes unpunished in Iowa City. PAULA is just to profitable for the police department. Why bust your butt as a police officer looking for criminal when Underage Coeds just walk into your lap at bar time. From a budget standpoint it’s great: Catch one rapist and cost the taxpayers thousand of dollars or catch half a dozen young adults then fine them and the bar they came from. Do the math and you get maybe $10,000 a night. So now the Police coffers are bursting at the seams. Let’s try to use that money to catch someone this year, instead of buying donuts and cold coffee.

Here is the Daily Iowan Article publish December 14, 2006. Normally, I would just put in a link. However, the DI is being an idiot by asking for passwords and crap before you read anything useful. Let’s hear it for the Fourth Estate!

Select bars lead in PAULAs
Emileigh Barnes - The Daily Iowan


Students partying at semester's close should expect to share shoulder room with some not-so-celebratory visitors from the Iowa City police.

And just like students, police data show officers favor some establishments more than others, heavily visiting several downtown bars that have a statistical likelihood of catching more than one underage drinker a night.

From October 2005 to October 2006, police handed out 1,453 PAULAs at Iowa City businesses, which adds up to a minimum of $363,250 in fines, assuming each violation was a first-time offense. This is nearly six times the 256 PAULA tickets, or $64,000 minimum in fines, given at non-business locations.

And the most ticketed, most police-visited establishment during this period was the Summit, 10 S. Clinton St., according to records.

During the 12-month run, cops doled out 243 PAULAs inside the bar. During that same period, Summit and 3rd Base, 113 E. College St., were tied for the most police visits - 135 - followed closely by Sports Column, 12 S. Dubuque St., at 125.

"I guess the stats show they do a lot of bar checks, but we do quite a bit of business," said Summit manager Jerad Kilburg, declining further comment.

Iowa City police Sgt. Doug Hart agreed.

"Some establishments have more violations than others," he said. "It has been my experience that anytime you have more persons present in any situation, you are more apt to find violations."

The bar that netted the most tickets during any one of the 12 months was the Sports Column, which had 79 patrons cited during October 2005.

Between January and October, Summit had the highest average of PAULAs given inside any bar: 2.186 tickets on average for each check, ahead of One-Eyed Jakes, 1.881, Union Bar, 1.564, 3rd Base, 1.398, and Et Cetera, 1.09.

Hart said police hold both planned and unplanned bar checks.

"I am unaware of any bar that gets more patrol, compared with others, on a routine basis," Hart said. "If officers observe what appears to be an inordinate amount of violations or an increase in violations for a particular establishment, it would be reasonable and expected that they increase efforts at that establishment."

Numerous businesses did not have any PAULAs issued during police checks between October 2005 and October 2006. These establishments include Iowa City Yacht Club, Joe's Place, Studio 13, Speakeasy, Deadwood, Quinton's Bar & Deli, Piano Lounge, Old Capitol Brew Works, and the Vine Tavern.

Of the bars that were not the site of PAULAs, customers at the Speakeasy, 171 Highway 1 W, survived the most checks unscathed, having pulled through 55 police visits without a single patron receiving a ticket for the offense.

Manager and owner Kevin Grimm said the Speakeasy's strict 21-only policy "probably" contributed to the lack of PAULAs.

The bar generally appeals to older clientele who don't want to deal with underage patrons, he said.

"We have a door guy on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, so I'm sure that helps, too," Grimm added. "We have a lot of people trying to get in, but we're strict."

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