By James Tinley, Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — The cop in charge of policing Lighthouse Point Park Monday night asked a mainly skeptical aldermanic committee to outlaw drinking there, the last piece of city property where it’s legal to drink beer or wine.

After more than an hour of debate, the Legislation Committee of the Board of Aldermen tabled the measure so police and the Parks, Recreation and Trees Commission could come back and present more statistics on drinking at city parks.

The proposal would ban the consumption of all alcohol at the popular city beach and picnic area, except for permitted events at the carousel building, when a hired private duty police officer is present.

For police Lt. Jeff Hoffman, East Shore district manager, the reason for the ban boils down to public safety.

With no public intoxication law on the books, Hoffman said, police must wait until excessive drinking leads to other problems.

“All we can do is send officers down there, watch (people) drink and send an ambulance when they get too drunk,” he said.

An ambulance had to be called for a “sick person” eight times in the last two years, he said.

East Shore Alderwoman Arlene DePino, a Republican, said the rowdy and destructive behavior of people who drink to excess has become a major concern for her constituents.

But East Rock Alderman Roland Lemar, a Democrat and chairman of the Legislation Committee, questioned how police would be able to enforce the ban, and whether there was a way to crack down on problem behavior, while still allowing adults to responsibly drink beer or wine at the park. Continued...

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Hoffman conceded that enforcement would be a problem with a typical crowd of more than 4,000 on summer weekends, but officers aren’t looking to go on a ticket-writing campaign. He said police just want a tool to tamp down problem drinking. To do that, officers would be able to use their discretion for when and to whom they dole out the $99 infraction.

That sentiment raised a whole new set of concerns, voiced by Aldermen Migdalia Castro D-16, and Michael Jones, D-1, after other aldermen acknowledged public drinking laws sometimes go unenforced for the wine drinkers at public events like the summer plays at Edgerton Park.

“My biggest concern is that we all know that something like this is going to be enforced as a result of complaints,” Jones said. “And so we then have to ask ourselves: Who are the people who are going to be targeted as a result of those complaints? Who are going to be considered as undesirables. ... They are going to be young people and they are likely going to be minorities as well.”

The Police Department’s ability to control public drinking will also be put to the test Sunday at the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. After years of not enforcing public drinking laws for the parade, police have been publicizing they will be making public drinking arrests this year.

“It’s become a public safety nightmare,” Hoffman said.

James Tinley can be reached at jamestinley@newhavenregister.com or 203-789-5702.

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