Police Commission Endorses Proposed Alcohol Ordinance

By Andrew Gorosko

The Police Commission has endorsed Police Chief Michael Kehoe’s wording for a proposed town alcohol ordinance, which would levy $90 fines against underage drinkers, and also against the hosts of events where underage drinking is allowed.

Police Commission members unanimously endorsed the proposed ordinance after discussion on April 1. Commission members forwarded the document for review by the Legislative Council. The council is the town’s law-making agency.

Chief Kehoe told Police Commission members that having such an ordinance in force has been endorsed by the Newtown Prevention Council, and by the local group known as “NO Suds.” Newtown police have representatives on both organizations, the police chief said.

Chief Kehoe said March 31 that local incidents have occurred at which parents, who are hosting private parties, allow groups of underage youths to drink alcohol. The proposed ordinance is aimed at regulating such activity, he said.

The police chief said that having a local alcohol ordinance would make for “another tool in the toolbox [of the police officer] to effectively deal with underage drinking.”

The proposed ordinance would not remove the right of parents to allow their underage children to drink alcohol under their supervision, Chief Kehoe explained.

 Chief Kehoe said the proposed ordinance is a draft proposal, which is subject to possible revision.

“We should send a strong message about young people and drinking,” Chief Kehoe told Police Commission members April 1.

A state law on the matter exists, but that law contains legal loopholes, such as excluding private property from enforcement, the police chief said.

The proposed Newtown ordinance is based on a similar ordinance now in effect in Ridgefield, Chief Kehoe said. He told Police Commission members that he strengthened and clarified the provisions of the Ridgefield ordinance in the version that is now under consideration in Newtown. The Ridgefield ordinance is based on similar laws in Glastonbury and Cheshire, he said.

Newtown police would enforce a local alcohol ordinance, as well as state laws, in dealing with underage drinking situations, Chief Kehoe said.

Police Commission member Richard Simon urged that the proposed ordinance explicitly state that the law would be enforceable when underage youths are found in possession of alcohol in motor vehicles.

Chief Kehoe responded that the proposed ordinance implicitly applies to automobiles.

Mr Simon said having such an ordinance would be “a very pro-active approach” to dealing with the problem of underage drinking.

Chief Kehoe said that Ridgefield has had its alcohol ordinance in effect for about 18 months, but that Ridgefield police have enforced the ordinance in only a few cases. The people, who were charged under that ordinance, paid the fines that were levied, he said. So far, no one has challenged the legality of Ridgefield’s ordinance, he added.

Police Commission members then discussed the legal mechanics of enforcing a Newtown alcohol ordinance, such a fine collections and how appeals would be handled by the town.

Persons charged under the proposed ordinance would have secondary appeal rights in Danbury Superior Court.

Provisions

According to the proposed alcohol ordinance: no one under age 21 may possess or control a closed, unopened, or opened container of alcohol within the town, except when that underage person is accompanied by, or in the presence of, his or her parent, guardian, or spouse, who is at least 21 years old. That alcohol restriction would apply to public property and private property.

The proposed ordinance also addresses the “hosts” of events. To “host” an event would mean to organize a gathering of two or more people, or to allow the premises under one’s control to be used with one’s knowledge for a gathering of two or more people for personal, social, or business interaction.

The proposed ordinance provides that no person shall host an event that allows alcohol use by minors, unless those minors are accompanied by or in the presence of their parents, guardians, or spouses, who are at least 21 years old. The restriction would apply to any event or gathering in town, whether on public property or private property.

A $90 fine could be levied against the underage people who use alcohol, and also against the hosts of events at which alcohol is used by underage people.