How much do the bars hate the ENP?
Let me count the tickets

May 5, 2004

The Lower Greenville ENP was suspended thirty days ago while the DPD’s version of the Keystone Cops unit (aka Chief Danny Garcia and his look-good-for-TV investigators) reviewed charges of extortion in support of the ENP program.

Never mind that the bars complaining about BD’s attitude never even supported the ENP (Suede has apparently dumped on its pledge, made by lead partner Brad Priebe a day before the ENP was suspended).

Never mind that Don Nedler paid his ENP pledge just days before he lashed out at BD and said the neighborhood had to play by his rules.

Never mind that the DPD has nearly 40 copies of the same emails and not bothered to ask BD any questions.

Never mind that the bars are allowed to hire cops as uniformed bouncers, while you will never find an on-duty officer on Euclid Street unless they were completely lost.

Five points if the beat cops even know where Euclid Street is located.

Never mind that the bar owners cannot operate legally per their Certificates of Occupancy, so they need to get Specific Use Permits.

And guess who stands in the way of their SUPs??

Hint: Has anyone noticed that MilkDud closed its doors for good about a month ago? And that location will never operate with a bar/dance hall with indoor amusement SUP either.

How many reasons can you count? Try 269

There are 269 reasons that the bars decided to go public in the worse possible way with their false accusations and all that angst about years of BD’s extortion.

That number represents all the bar patrons (and a few neighbors, we are sure) who were given tickets for illegal parking, public intoxication, DWI, public urination, traffic citations of all kinds, and arrests for all kinds by the ENP officers since December 2003.

It represents nearly 250 bar patrons who will not be coming back to Lower Greenville bars again. At an estimated $50 per person per visit, that is $150,000 in sales that will go - we hope - to another part of town.

That represents some really bad - and confusing - public relations for the bars to handle

Publicly, they told us when the ENP was started that the neighborhood had to be safe for their patrons (the ones parking way out in the hood since parking lots charge $20 a slot). They sang a good song, but they lied through their teeth.

Even the few honest bar owners who really do care about the neighborhood (and yes, there are some) are being intimidated by the HGABA Mafia - records are being pulled at City Hall, questions of loyalty are being raised, and quiet whispers are being passed around: They like the neighborhood folks, so they must be bad.

Here are the monthly summaries for ENP patrols for December 13, 2003 through March 31, 2004 (the reports for the first weekend of April were not faxed):

December 2003 ENP Summary
 

• Parking violations: 49
• Traffic stops: 8
• Traffic citations/hazardous behavior: 4
• DWI: 2
• Public intoxication: 4
• Flagged down by citizen: 2
• Provide cover or assistance to another officer: 2
• Miscellaneous / minor: 2

January 2004 ENP Summary
 

• Parking violations: 48
• Traffic citations: 2
• Traffic/hazardous behavior: 4
• Public intoxication: 5
• Provide cover or assistance to another officer: 9 (7 arrests)
• Parking on unimproved surface: 15 citations
• Miscellaneous / minor: 2

February 2004 ENP Summary
 

• Arrest: Alias warrant: 1
• Arrest: Drug paraphenalia/alias warrant: 2
• Arrest: Drug paraphenalia/public intoxication: 1
• Arrest: Failure to identify/alias warrants: 1
• Arrest: Open container: 1
• Arrest: Public intoxication: 1
• Arrest: Public urination: 1
• Parking violations: 36
• Traffic citations, regular: 4
• Traffic citations/hazardous: 9
• Assist officer: 1 incident

March 2004 ENP Summary
 

• Arrest: DWI: 1
• Arrest: Public intoxication: 3
• Arrest: Public urination: 1
• Parking violations: 36
• Traffic citations, regular: 4
• Traffic citations/hazardous: 1
• Assist officer: 3 incidents, 5 arrests

Don’t move, this is gonna hurt you more than it will hurt me

Privately, they are taking a beating from every person who got a ticket when they were on Lower Greenville. Many of them have called the bars (and sent email to BD) complaining about the parking ticket they found on their car (for parking on the empty lot on Hope Street) or they got stopped by the ENP for making an illegal turn.

Not only were they mad that DPD had the gall to stop them, but my gawd the bars are paying for that (you fill in the blank) cop who gave them the ticket.

Too damn bad, if you ask me.

But the bar owners started doing the math - and looking at the ENP reports online - and figured out they only way to stop the bleeding was to stop the ENP.

And the only way to stop the ENP was to lie.

That lie worked for thirty days. We expect the ENP to be back on the streets within the next two weeks, under the same ground rules - no slacking off, no collusion, no mercy.

And you can bet the officers will have new ticket books.

Sorry guys, this game ain’t over yet.

The next move belongs to the neighborhoods.

And then BD gets his turn.