Drunk driving is a huge problem in Athens, GA- particularly around the UGA campus and downtown. However, police largely focus on easy busts like when an RA or friend tattles on someone inside the dorms who has been drinking, or people they spot who have been drinking but made the choice to walk or take the bus home rather than drive. If more cops focused instead on catching drunk people on the roads safety could be increased.
Additionally, the cops practically never attempt to bust the bar owners or bouncers who knowingly let in and serve thousands of underage kids each night, accepting laughably obvious fake IDs. The downtown bar scene rakes in huge revenue and tax dollars for the city of Athens, so it is allowed to continue. If cops actually cared about safety they would pay more attention to the establishments serving the minors in the first place rather than picking up students who have consumed alcohol but are not doing anything dangerous or disruptive.
Also, let's think about this: Who is more of a threat to public safety, a student who has had some alcohol and is now safely inside his dorm for the night OR a bar owner who is knowingly serving thousands of underage people inside his bar?
Instead of running around arresting and dragging peaceful and non-disruptive students off to jail and then slapping them with permanent criminal records, the police in Athens, GA should shift their focus to being more proactive when it comes to road safety and drunk driving. This would be a much better use of resources.
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