SB 5399 Liquor Control Board Officers

[Crunchy]

Soon to be the states second biggest agency

All because the legalization of marijuana and privatization of liquor sales.

i doubt second biggest.  maybe top 5

[bigtex]

Soon to be the states second biggest agency

All because the legalization of marijuana and privatization of liquor sales.

i doubt second biggest.  maybe top 5

I believe Casey is speaking in terms of state agencies (WSP, DNR, WDFW, etc.)

If he is, then yes the LCB is looking to be the second largest state LE agency in WA in a couple years. They will soon pass WDFW.

[dreamunelk]

what would be the pro / con arguments?

I need help understanding where each perspective is coming from and the need to make the change.

Right now say a LCB Officer is in a bar and a fight breaks out. The LCB Officer has no more legal standing to break up the fight and detain or arrest someone in this situation then a common citizen. The reason is because an assault, even in a bar, is not an alcohol, tobacco, or drug violation. In fact in this situation the LCB Officer could go arrest a bartender/security guard for allowing the fight to happen rather than actually arresting the aggressor in the fight. So you think of all the general crimes that occur inside or near establishments that sell alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana and realistically not many of those things are under the alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana laws.

On the traffic side if an LCB Officer is driving down the road behind an aggressive driver, potential DUI, etc all they can do is call 911 and report it. They can't initiate their lights and pull them over.

What this law would do is allow the LCB Officer to pull over the DUI driver, arrest the guy in the bar fight, arrest the drunk guy outside the club who punched his girlfriend, etc.

These are state officers with full law enforcement academies, vehicles with lights and are dispatched by WSP. They just can't do anything outside of alcohol, tobacco, and drug violations.

I've been in favor of this idea for years.

One of any office trying to break up a bar fight would be a bad idea.  Two or more against one.

Just don't think this bill is a good idea.  Best to keep them focused on what they do.  When they feel the need for back up they can arrange for it.  Just don't think we need another enforcement agency will full power.  With out extra training it would cause a lot of issues.  Effectively they would have to invest a lot of dollars in additional training.
I think the LB dose a good job at what they do.  Keep them focused!

[bigtex]

what would be the pro / con arguments?

I need help understanding where each perspective is coming from and the need to make the change.

Right now say a LCB Officer is in a bar and a fight breaks out. The LCB Officer has no more legal standing to break up the fight and detain or arrest someone in this situation then a common citizen. The reason is because an assault, even in a bar, is not an alcohol, tobacco, or drug violation. In fact in this situation the LCB Officer could go arrest a bartender/security guard for allowing the fight to happen rather than actually arresting the aggressor in the fight. So you think of all the general crimes that occur inside or near establishments that sell alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana and realistically not many of those things are under the alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana laws.

On the traffic side if an LCB Officer is driving down the road behind an aggressive driver, potential DUI, etc all they can do is call 911 and report it. They can't initiate their lights and pull them over.

What this law would do is allow the LCB Officer to pull over the DUI driver, arrest the guy in the bar fight, arrest the drunk guy outside the club who punched his girlfriend, etc.

These are state officers with full law enforcement academies, vehicles with lights and are dispatched by WSP. They just can't do anything outside of alcohol, tobacco, and drug violations.

I've been in favor of this idea for years.

One of any office trying to break up a bar fight would be a bad idea.  Two or more against one.

Just don't think this bill is a good idea.  Best to keep them focused on what they do.  When they feel the need for back up they can arrange for it.  Just don't think we need another enforcement agency will full power.  With out extra training it would cause a lot of issues.  Effectively they would have to invest a lot of dollars in additional training.
I think the LB dose a good job at what they do.  Keep them focused!

They don't get full power under this bill. That's what's different between the 2013/2014 bills and the 2015 one. Like I already said, they get the same training that deputies, city cops, and WDFW officers get. If you went to the state LE academy in Burien right now you'd see LCB Officers sitting right next to city and county officers.

So for you it's ok for the DUI driver in front of the LCB Officer to drive off the road and kill someone? Because hey they work for the LCB and shouldn't have authority to do traffic?

[Westside88]

These LCB officers have academy traing, a badge and a gun. They should have authority to intervene when necessary. They have enough work load, they won't be out trying to cover other agency's responsibilities. I believe they should be able to help when needed within an appropriate scope of their training

[bigtex]

These LCB officers have academy traing, a badge and a gun. They should have authority to intervene when necessary. They have enough work load, they won't be out trying to cover other agency's responsibilities. I believe they should be able to help when needed within an appropriate scope of their training

I completely agree. The LCB is under the spotlight right now, especially pertaining to marijuana. So I, nor anyone expect that if this bill were to pass you'd see LCB Officers looking for every petty violation out there just because they can. They want/need it for the serious stuff that they encounter all the time.