Why do cops use "public intoxication" as a backstop charge?

Question

If a cop doesn't have anything to charge a person with who said something they didn't like, then they seem to fall back on this charge, assuming he/she is actually drunk. But I don't really understand this law anyway, couldn't they just stand outside a bar and arrest almost everybody who walks out the door all night?

Answer 1

Actually, yes, they could just sit outside the bar and arrest people as they walk out for P.I., if they are intoxicated and out in public. Generally it's just best to stay home if you are planning on becoming intoxicated...but that requires common sense in the first place, so I'm not sure that will work for you.

Answer 2

Where I worked, there was no "public intoxication" law. You were either drunk on public highway (which meant out in the street) or not. There was no walking around not in a public roadway plain drunk charge.
Maybe there should've been, but there wasn't. So I guess not all cops use the law you speak of. Sounds to me like a tool to use when someone is being disorderly, not just drinking and then walking somewhere.

Answer 3

Public intox doesn't mean you are drunk, it means through your actions or inactions you are intoxicated and a danger to yourself or others in a public place or where a major of the public can see. If you don't understand the law perhaps you should take some law classes to better understand what is or is not legal in the state you reside in.

Answer 4

Sounds like phyo's local fuzz doesn't like him. The reason cops use this charge is because they can. Don't be a drunk a$$hole and you won't have to worry about it.

Answer 5

I think there is a unwritten rule in police depts. It goes something like this:

Write as many tickets as you can so we can make some money.

In my town, the cops seem to be great at passing out traffic tickets, but not worth a damn catching the criminals or preventing crime.