WI: Juneau to consider demerit point system
By Chris Higgins
July 16, 2018
Juneau will be considering a demerit point system for establishments that serve alcohol like the one utilized in Beaver Dam.
Demerit point systems keep allow police to keep track of violations by bars and other establishments, such as serving to minors. Each violation carries a certain amount of points.
In Beaver Dam, receiving 200 points is considered grounds for the city to look at whether to revoke the liquor license. For example, one bar recently received 230 points after police said no one at the bar notified them about a fight, and the city’s administrative committee will hearing from the city attorney about it on Monday. The Juneau Common Council has heard information about such a system and will look at an ordinance to put one in place in the coming weeks.
David Beal, the police chief in Juneau, said the ordinance would not be targeted toward any one business.
“That’s what makes those ordinances so successful,” he said. “It’s a much more fair way to address issues when they come.”
Municipalities in Dodge County have begun thinking about demerit point systems in light of the ongoing controversy over gentlemen’s clubs in the area, which erupted earlier this year after the indictment of Christopher Childs, 45, of Hartford, on federal charges of human trafficking.
Childs is accused of torturing women and forcing them to engage in prostitution while keeping the money they earned for their work. Authorities say Childs worked out of strip clubs in Lebanon and Clyman. Local officials have organized to shut them down, while the owners are pushing back against what they say is an unfair effort to impose personal morals against their First Amendment rights.
Those against the strip clubs view demerit point systems as an easier way to keep them in check, as losing a liquor license would mean closing. However, on the ground, a demerit system would apply to everyone.
“It’s going to be applied fairly and evenly across the board to all establishments that hold a beer and alcohol license,” Beal said. “It’s a much more fair and consistent way to enforce an ordinance when the elements of it are spelled out in the ordinance itself.”