Oklahoma Agents To Crack Down On Drunks In Bars Over New Year's

New Year's weekend is big time for parties. Lots of people will go to bars to ring in the New Year. That's why Tulsa officers, state troopers and Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission (ABLE) agents will be out in force, looking for drunks - and not just on the roads. 

Few people realize it's against the law to be drunk inside a bar, but it is. That's why officers are not just going to be patrolling the streets looking for drunk drivers, they're also going to be inside bars and in the parking lots, arresting people before they ever have a chance to get behind the wheel.

In Tulsa, for example, more than two dozen officers will be looking for drunks who are driving or might drive. 

"When it comes to DUIs on the streets, over 50 percent of those arrested for DUI come from a bar," said Erik Smoot of ABLE. 

That's why there will be a special emphasis on bars.

Officers can arrest people for public intox inside bars. They can also arrest bartenders for serving customers who are intoxicated - that's a felony.

They say once people get intoxicated, they made bad decisions and other people suffer.

"If DUI was just a deal where you only hurt yourself, it wouldn't be that big a deal, but it's not," Smoot said. "Innocent people are the ones who die, and we decided if we could stop it down the line, before that happens, we're doing something to save somebody's life." 

They say if they work a DUI-related crash, they're going to trace backward to the bar and arrest the bartender who last served the driver. 

They say it's perfectly fine to go to a bar and have fun, but you have to be smart. 

"If we can make it where they go in, have a few drinks, have a nice night and a good time, and everybody gets home safe, everybody's happy," said Erik Smoot of ABLE. 

If you plan to party at home, remember this: it's illegal to provide a place for minors to consume alcohol, even if you didn't furnish the drinks. And, if those minors leave and get into a fight or crash and somebody gets hurt or killed, you're the one facing an automatic felony, even if it's your first offense.