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Valley
Patriot Editorial
(04/04/07)
Police Details Needed?
Weve
noticed that North Andover Licensing Commission members
always give a nice little speech to each new license
holder about the how strict they are and how they have a
no tolerance policy.
Oh
really? Let's Take a quick look at some recent
police calls, shall we?
The situations above are
very serious in nature.
The incident at China Blossom on September 2nd involved a
stabbing in the parking lot. The injured victim was
hospitalized. The December 17th incident involved a fight
inside the restaurant requiring at least four police
officers to respond. The December 31st incident involved
a call that a female was seen driving from the restaurant
who appeared intoxicated. Officers drove around looking
for the alleged female driver without success. The police
were called to the Beijing on December 15th because of a
large fight inside the restaurant and an employee serving
an intoxicated individual whom police had to take into
protective custody. At that time, an employee of the
Beijing was assaulted by a group of patrons in the
restaurant who kicked him in the face. In the
police report filed by Lt. Gallagher to Chief Stanley,
Gallagher states that because of the large fight
inside, all shifts were called to the scene. The
bouncer suffered a broken cheekbone and five individuals
were arrested. The January 18th incident also involved a
fight and intoxication where two officers were called to
the scene and a man was taken into protective custody.
The February 3rd police call was a complaint about a
patron who appeared too intoxicated to drive and a cab
had to be called.
The North Andover Licensing Commission is conducting a
formal hearing on the December 15th and January 18th
Beijing incidences only. The Commission is not
investigating the China Blossom incidents or the Beijing
February 3rd case.
So now we must ask, why are there so many calls to
particular restaurants in town and why isnt more
being done to stop the violence and the serving of
alcohol to intoxicated patrons? Why are these
establishments allowed to continue serving alcohol?
Section 204CMR 2.05(2) of the Licensing Statute says:
No licensee shall permit any illegality to occur on
the licensed premises. The Licensee is responsible for
ensuring that no disorder, disturbance or illegality
takes place in or on the licensed premises.
Presumably, this would include fights, assaults,
stabbings and all of the above incidents. So why
isnt more being done? Why isnt the Licensing
Commission investigating all of these incidences for
violations? If restaurant employees cant solve the
problems, why isnt there a mandatory police detail?
We say that the North Andover Licensing Commission
ought to be doing a lot more than making speeches about
how strict they are. They ought to be aggressively
solving the problem.
Police details might be a good start.
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The March 2007 Edition
of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 12,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
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Salisbury Beach, and Lowell.
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