MEDIA ADVISORY
June
3, 2002
Contact
person:
Karen Maxwell
Supervising Deputy District
Attorney
Phone: (916) 874-5834
The ‘can do’ spirit has come to characterize Sacramento.
Utilizing a law which has been on the books since 1872, the Sacramento
County Sheriff’s Department and the Sacramento Police Department have
joined with the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office to implement an
innovative program to combat an age-old problem.
Chronic inebriates create blight in the neighborhoods
where they buy and consume alcohol. Areas in our community frequented
by public inebriates are most characterized by panhandling, litter,
cigarette butts, and urinating and defecating in public. Parents
with children avoid areas frequented by habitual drunks, as do sober
citizens, resulting not only in a loss of business and revenue, but
also in a reduction of the quality of life for those who must live and
work in areas haunted by habitual drunks.
Penal Code Section 387 prohibits the sale of intoxicating
liquors to any ‘habitual or common drunkard.’ There is a small,
but significant group of these individuals in Sacramento who are well
known to law enforcement and social service providers. Business
owners in areas frequented by these chronic inebriates will be given
a binder container pictures and identifying information on no more than
10 individuals who have been identified by law enforcement as “Habitual
Drunks.” Sale of alcoholic beverages to these people will be prohibited.
The press and public are invited to a press conference
to announce the implementation of this program. After the press
conference, members of the media will be invited to accompany law enforcement
officers to witness the distribution of the binders to local businesses
in neighborhoods where uncontrolled alcohol consumption by chronic inebriates
has created a pall. The press conference will be held as follows:
Tuesday, June 4, 2002 @ 10:00
District Attorney’s Office
901 G Street in 4th floor conference room
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