New Task Force Out and About

21.  What is it but a number right? No, it is the age that most Americans cherish because they are finally allowed to drink legally.  The key word here is LEGALLY.  If you are between 15 and 20 you have most likely drank illegally before.  Since this is a reoccurring situation, the Travis County Police Department has taken it upon themselves to create a special task force to take down underage drinking.  Yes, I guess it sounds like a good idea in theory.  Why wouldn’t we want to stop an illegal act from taking part? The Police Department looks at this as a way to decrease the amount of deaths caused by drunken driving accidents.  Here’s the kicker though, it isn’t just underage people that are drinking and driving.  Many people that are “of age” drink and drive.  So why is the task force only focusing on high school students? When researching this “task force”, they only mention high school students drinking and that they are the main problem. 

If that was the case then why is 6^th street swarming with this new task force?  Last time I checked, high school students weren’t partying downtown.  I will be the first to say, yes if you are not younger than 21 drinking anywhere, it is illegal, and so I understand when people receive tickets.  My main issue is, why is this our Police Department’s main issue to fight? We have so many other things going on in our city that need to be reevaluated and are of a higher importance.  What about the homeless problem? Could we get a task force to try to help figure out ways to help these people get back on their feet, away from drugs, and finding new jobs? Instead, we are filling up the court houses with petty drinking cases.  I am sorry, like I said, I understand that drinking underage is illegal, but to create a task force to take on this issue is a little over the top.  If you want to give people tickets for drinking and driving that is a more legitimate reason, but for someone who is taking a bus/cab and not harming anyone, why is it worth it to put that type of case in a court room.  Sounds like a waste of time to me.  

-Kelsey Scott