POLICE ACT TO CUT ALCOHOL SALES TO DRUNKS

Pictures posted in Menlo Park, Palo Alto stores

Menlo Park and Palo Alto police have passed out mug shots of more than 20
men and women they have identified as public drunks and ordered local
merchants not to sell them any booze.

Authorities in the two neighboring cities hope that distribution of the
photos to stores and markets with liquor licenses will help reduce crime
and other alcohol-related disturbances, especially in their downtown areas.

However, the crackdown could run into trouble with civil libertarians who
have already raised questions about the legality of a similar campaign by
police in San Pablo.

The photos, which do not identify the problem drunks by name, are taken
from police mug shots of individuals who have been in custody at one time
or another. By police order, the pictures have been posted behind store
counters -- out of sight of customers -- to help clerks know who cannot buy
liquor.

``Alcoholism is a big problem, we know, and this is just one small step to
try to improve things in the two communities,'' Menlo Park Police Chief
Bruce Cumming said yesterday.

To get on the habitual drunkard list, police said, a person has to have had
at least five ``alcohol-related contacts'' with law enforcement during a
12-month period. However, those contacts may range from getting arrested to
merely being stopped for questioning when liquor is involved.

Several of the men on the current photo lineup are homeless, but police
denied they are making homeless people a target of the crackdown on drunks.

More than two dozen merchants met two weeks ago with Cumming, Palo Alto
Police Chief Patrick Dwyer, other police officers and agents of the state
Alcoholic Beverage Commission to learn the details of the crackdown on
public drunks.

The merchants were also reminded that the sale of alcohol to a known drunk
is a misdemeanor that could threaten a store's liquor license. Most of the
store owners appeared willing to go along with the new policy.

Sam Katwan, owner of the Willow Road Market in Menlo Park, said he has used
the photos twice in the past week to turn away known problem drunks who
have come into his store.

Paul Safavi, owner of Century Liquor Store in Palo Alto's Midtown
neighborhood, said, ``I really believe (the police) are trying to do
something good to clean up the community and not just trying to pick on
(merchants).''

So far, the Peninsula police departments have not heard any complaints
about what they are doing. But Julia Greenfield of the San Francisco-based
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights said last night that the original law
upon which Bay Area police are basing their efforts would be unlikely to
hold up in court.

The section in the state Business and Professions Code was written in the
late 19th century to prohibit the sale of alcohol to American Indians.
Although it has not been tested recently, Greenfield said, ``we don't
believe it would withstand a legal challenge given today's circumstances.''

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski