Safety Committee to discuss bar violence

    The Washington Public Safety Committee is planning to take a closer look at bar violence in the city. Committee chairman and city council member Bob Shepherd said he would like to hold the meeting sometime this week or next week. Shepherd said the purpose of the meeting is to get bar owners, law enforcement and the city?s residents on the same page about how to reduce violence and ensure public safety in town.

    The meeting is being called partly because of the circumstances surrounding the death of Robert Blankenship outside the 4th Avenue Bar and Grill on Nov. 22, 2009. At a press conference last week, Police Chief Greg Goodman and County Attorney Barb Edmondson reported that Blankenship?s death was related to a fight he participated in outside 4th Avenue Bar and Grill that night. Goodman and Edmondson said that the fight involved 15 to 30 people, all of whom were intoxicated. The investigation revealed that Blankenship had a blood alcohol content of 0.31 that night.

    Shepherd said businesses that serve alcohol have to take steps to regulate the amount of alcohol its customers consume.

    ?I am concerned with any place that is not able to control its patrons,? said Shepherd. ?There are ways and methods to have control. When a business gets a liquor license, they have responsibilities to their patrons and to the public in general.?

    Shepherd said that more businesses than just bars should be concerned about public safety.

    ?Liquor stores have to be a part of this effort, too,? he said. ?If someone comes in falling down drunk, you can?t sell them liquor. Store owners have to take responsibility.?

    Goodman said at the press conference that it is against state law for a bar to serve an intoxicated patron. He said the police would conduct more bar checks in the future. Shepherd agreed that the police should do walk-throughs of the bars to help them control unruly customers. 

For the full story, see the April 20 edition of The Washington Evening Journal