Cops surfing facebook to bust underage drinking

[Joshua G]

another example of the creeping police state we are living in...

http://www.lacrossetribune.com/news/...cc4c002e0.html

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse student Adam Bauer has nearly 400 friends on Facebook. He got an offer for a new one about a month ago. ?She was a good-looking girl. I usually don?t accept friends I don?t know, but I randomly accepted this one for some reason,? the 19-year-old said.

He thinks that led to his invitation to come down to the La Crosse police station, where an officer laid out photos from Facebook of Bauer holding a beer ? and then ticketed him for underage drinking.

The police report said Bauer admitted drinking, which he denies. But he did plead no contest in municipal court Wednesday and will pay a $227 fine.

He was among at least eight people who said Wednesday they had been cited for underage drinking based on photos on social networking sites.

?I just can?t believe it. I feel like I?m in a science fiction movie, like they are always watching. When does it end?? Bauer said after court Wednesday.

Social networking sites are among many new tools law enforcement has adopted to

find underage drinkers, said La Crosse police officer Al Iverson, who works in alcohol compliance and education.

?Law enforcement has to evolve with technology,? Iverson said. ?It has to

happen. It is a necessity ?not just for underage drinking.?

Social networking sites are used to catch sexual predators as well, he noted.

But Bauer said, ?I think there are a lot worse things (police) could be spending their time on.?

The photos officers found were of him, his roommates and a couple friends hanging out at his house, Bauer said.

?We were actually trying to be safe and not go out on the town and get crazy,? he said.

Bauer?s friend, 20-year-old UW-L sophomore Tyrell Luebker, also was tagged for underage drinking based on Facebook photos. He, too, pleaded no contest Wednesday.

?I feel like it is shady police work and a waste of taxpayer money to have him (an officer) sit on the computer on Facebook when he could actually be doing police work,? said Luebker.

Iverson pointed out the students still were caught in an illegal act, one they felt comfortable and confident enough about to put photos of on the Internet. Posting those photos, he added, helps glamorize alcohol consumption and binge drinking.

Someone else posted photos on a Facebook site of UW-L sophomores Brianna Niesen and Cassie Stenholt holding beer, but they still ended up in court Wednesday pleading no contest and getting fined.

The practice ultimately could hurt the positive alliance law enforcement wants to build with students so they will report crimes, Niesen said.

?I feel like it is a breach of privacy,? Stenholt said. ?You feel like you should be able to trust cops.?

[BradM]

Ya this is overall a very bad idea.

[Dirty Dane]

Laws are laws, but I do not understand why 19, 20 year old adults are called/considered "underage".

[Tom_PM]

Welp, it's hard to deny that if it were someone who had stolen something and photographed their crime and put it on facebook.. that they are stupid and should be busted for the crime and for being so stupid.

[Tom_PM]

Originally Posted by Dirty Dane

Laws are laws, but I do not understand why 19, 20 year old adults are called/considered "underage".

exactly.

You can vote and fight and die in war, but dont you dare drink beer.

[Anal Hobbit]

http://www.gfy.com/fucking-around-and-business-discussion/618402-hot-tip-ive-gotten-18-20-ass-60-days.html
Oh shit!

[cherrylula]

Originally Posted by PR_Tom

exactly.

You can vote and fight and die in war, but dont you dare drink beer.

they should raise military age to 21

[woj]

that's pretty lame... they should work on stopping the real crimes, not some college guys having a few beers...

[slapass]

So how dumb do you have to be to put photos of you doing illegal things on facebook?

[Anal Hobbit]

Originally Posted by slapass

So how dumb do you have to be to put photos of you doing illegal things on facebook?

Hmmmmmmmm..
So, even with my privacy settings its not a good idea?

[Joshua G]

Originally Posted by slapass

So how dumb do you have to be to put photos of you doing illegal things on facebook?

it's pretty stupid...but its comes down to degree of crime in question. Don't these Mayberry jonny laws have better things to do with their time?

I bet the very cops pulling this shit drank a beer when they were 18 too.

[BlackCrayon]

wow stupid. i guess all the people with pics of smoking joints and doing lines better remove them.

[beerptrol]

If you're dumb enough to break the law and then post photos/video of you doing so.......

[czarina]

if you're old enough to f*ck and go to war, you're old enough to drink.

Anyway, welcome to AmeriKa!

[Tom_PM]

Oh when will children learn to always use an opaque plastic cup and photoshop a bush in front of the keg!!

[d-null]

I dont understand how this could ever stick, they must have had very poor legal advice.... isn't the onus of proof on the police? the bottles could have had water or juice in them, could the police prove with any reasonable doubt that they didnt?

very bad idea letting the police get away with convictions on this

[marketsmart]

so i guess i should take down those pictures of me fucking a goat on FB...

[MaDalton]

Originally Posted by cherrylula

they should raise military age to 21

until then most would have realized that it's a bad idea - you have to get them young and stupid

[fryer]

What a waste of time.

[baddog]

Originally Posted by czarina

if you're old enough to f*ck and go to war, you're old enough to drink.

Anyway, welcome to AmeriKa!

Bullshit.

[borked]

Originally Posted by d-null

I dont understand how this could ever stick, they must have had very poor legal advice.... isn't the onus of proof on the police? the bottles could have had water or juice in them, could the police prove with any reasonable doubt that they didnt?

very bad idea letting the police get away with convictions on this

or prove that the photos were taken in a country where at that age it's illegal to drink alcohol...

[The Heron]

We don't want to glamourize drinking... oh wait just saw a budlight commercial on tv and a miller ad in the magazine... ha

[Robbie]

Originally Posted by joshgirls

it's pretty stupid...but its comes down to degree of crime in question. Don't these Mayberry jonny laws have better things to do with their time?

I bet the very cops pulling this shit drank a beer when they were 18 too.

18 my ass...if they were red blooded males they were drinking beers at 15 like the rest of us did.

But thank God that the "law" is making sure that we're all safe by fighting "crime" and keeping all those 18, 19, and 20 year olds from having a drink. What a great "free" country we live in.

[d-null]

Originally Posted by borked

or prove that the photos were taken in a country where at that age it's illegal to drink alcohol...

good point... either way they were fools to plead guilty

[Barefootsies]

Originally Posted by woj

that's pretty lame... they should work on stopping the real crimes, not some college guys having a few beers...

Exactly.

I think any state wasting their time doing these small, or petty, law enforcement issues should have their budgets cut. Once they are forced to actually focus on REAL crimes, then they could have some funding again.

Frankly, I am tired of the cops and law enforcement in general, whining they need more money. Then they go out and buy jetskiis, and tanks for drug raids, and putting more troopers on the road for seat belts, and speed enforcement. Or anytime someone is pulled over for some speeding offense you have 2-3 cop cars on the scene.

At the same time there are many other crimes that could use some attention.

[Robbie]

Originally Posted by Barefootsies

I think any state wasting their time doing these small, or petty, law enforcement issues should have their budgets cut.

That won't happen because they are taking direction from elected officials. We need to start voting these people out on a local level.

Problem is there are so many local elected officials. Does anybody really know who their judges are? Or the sheriff? Most people probably just vote party lines. If they are Republican they vote all Republican, if they are Democrat they vote all Dems.

The ideal situation would be to not only follow through on voting out the people responsible for this kind of wasteful idiocy...but also to vote IN people who understand the political consequences of it.

Unfortunately, the damn churches have organized their membership into powerful voting blocks locally across the country. And the elected officials are doing the bidding of the voting constituency.

[Matt 26z]

Originally Posted by MaDalton

until then most would have realized that it's a bad idea - you have to get them young and stupid

That's how they get soldiers to fight on the front lines. Take the Iraq war for instance. I was keeping some notes during the initial invasion. Teenage soldiers made up 6.9% of the total US armed forces, yet accounted for 46% of the deaths during the early stages of the war. That is where the infant in infantry comes from. The young soldier's lives are still expendable to their country at that age.


I think a good middle of the road for the drinking age in the US would be to legalize a lesser alcohol content for 18-20.