In last week’s editorial we wrote that the U.S. Department of Education’s report ranking Fairfield twentieth-eighth in the nation for alcoholic violations was overdrawn. It is ironic that the release of this study was followed by the raid on John Adams bar this past Thusday night. There goes our point.
Thirty-two people were arrested, with the majority being Fairfield students. It’s obvious that the Bridgeport Police were trying to make an example by arresting this many people in a bar raid, but it seems to be a pretty arbitrary example. The majority of those arrested were charged with varying offenses, and some were forced to spend the night in jail if they did not post bail.
After this raid one must wonder if arresting the underage people and making them spend a night in jail was really necessary. With the majority of our editorial staff being 21 years old, we can understand that underage drinking is illegal and understand the police’s point of trying to curb it, mostly since we’re not in danger of being arrested anymore ourselves. However, having been underage ourselves, we wonder if arresting the students and making them spend the night in jail will really deter future drinking.
Two years ago, the bar Key West was raided by the police. Those inside were filed past the police, produced a form of identification if they could, and then were sent on their way to return to campus annoyed that a night of drinking was disturbed. This brush with the police did not deter future drinking, and even though measures were harsher at this raid, we doubt that it will deter the majority in the future.
The police can raid one bar, but there will always be another. Public Safety can confiscate a 30-pack, but there will always be another liquor store to buy some more, unless it’s after 9 p.m.
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