Norwood Public Drinking Bylaw Pushes Problem to Outskirts of Town, Says Police Chief James F. Curran-July 30, 1976

This public drinking law has not curbed the drinking, just taken it out of the center of town and pushed it to the outskirts, Chief James F. Curran remarked this week. He continued, The alcoholic beverage law has done wonders as far as public drinking in the town square. But it has not cured the problem which has been scattered to St. Timothy’s, Shattuck Park, Berwick Street Park, or the school areas. Norwood Arena and American Drive in the industrial park are two other drinking spots, the chief said, remarking, “I think they’ve gone underground”.

Needless to say, the bylaw has meant more work for his department. As he was talking about the bylaw, five beer bottles and cans at the station were ready to go to a state laboratory for certification of their alcoholic content. “You do not”, the chief noted, “assume anything in a court prosecution under this bylaw. If an individual standing in a public park with a Schlitz in one hand is arrested for public drinking, it is not necessarily an open and shut case”. On an early test of the bylaw, Chief James F. Curran recalled, he tried the argument that the common man could reasonably conclude the beer can contained some beer. “Everybody smiled in the courtroom”, the chief said. To make an arrest for public drinking stick, the chief explained, police must observe the public drinking, seize the beverage when the arrest is made, and analyze the remaining beverage for certification as to its alcoholic content.

Since school got out in June, perhaps fifteen to twenty persons have been arrested and fined under the public drinking bylaw, according to Sgt. William Travers, the chief prosecuting officer. In the last week, three individuals were found guilty in court under the bylaw and fined $25 each plus court costs of $6.25, Sgt. William Travers said. Four more cases are pending, he added. The average age of those arrested falls somewhere between seventeen and twenty, Sgt. William Travers said, but occasionally police pick up bylaw offenders in their middle and late twenties. Both police officials felt the public drinking problem is not strictly seasonal, although, as Sgt. William Travers characterized it, “in the real hot weather when there’s romping around and raising hell, you get a stretch of it.” Chief James F. Curran described the number of pending court cases under the bylaw as above the average and added, “It could be a little reckless drinking, especially in the summer months when there’s little to do”.

Regarding the related problem of littering and loitering, both police officials indicated there is less police emphasis. The public drinking law usually is the way to get at the littering nuisance, Sgt. William Travers suggested. As Chief James F. Curran explained, a policeman has to see the act of littering in a public way or place before he can issue a court summons for such an offense. As for loitering, the only complaint he hears from his men is that the park in the town square near the Norwood Cinema should be posted or lighted to curb after-dark congregating. But, he said, It’s kind of hard to accuse them of loitering since many of the youths at the park are just waiting for the second show at the theater to begin. The municipal light department has been asked to estimate the cost of lighting the park, said Bernard Cooper, administrative assistant to the town manager. Whether a special appropriation will be needed depends on how elaborate the recommended lighting will be, he added.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger