Editorial: Raising open container fine not a final solution

‘ ‘ ‘ Every once in a while, people leave a party, but they don’t leave their drinks. As… ‘ ‘ ‘ Every once in a while, people leave a party, but they don’t leave their drinks. As they’re walking down the street, they’re stopped by the police and asked what they’re drinking, then written up for an open container violation. Only now, Pittsburgh City Council wants to make that charge hurt a bit more, so it has quadrupled the fine from $50 to $200 in an effort to dissuade people from walking around with drinks in their hands. ‘ ‘ ‘ Unfortunately for City Council, though, raising the fine isn’t going to change anything. ‘ ‘ ‘ The fact of the matter is that people don’t think about getting an open container violation, so changing the amount of money that someone is going to have to pay when he gets one doesn’t address the root of the problem. Nobody would have said that $50 was an acceptable price for being able to walk with his beer, but $200 isn’t an acceptable price, either. ‘ ‘ ‘ No one wants to pay a fine either way, so the fact that people still do it just shows that people are disregarding the fines altogether. Changing it from $50 to $200 will not have any positive effects. It’s not going to stop anyone who would have tried it previously from trying it again now. ‘ ‘ ‘ Part of this is because there’s a specific culture of tolerance inside the main parts of South Oakland that doesn’t exist in the rest of the city. House parties routinely spill outside onto balconies and front steps, and for the most part they continue through the night without consequence. Even at last year’s SempleFest there were only seven open container violations for a party that shut down an entire street and involved more than 1,000 people. ‘ ‘ ‘ The fact is that without increased police enforcement and a shift in the way college students think about open container violations, there will never be a significant reduction in the amount of violations. And especially as Pitt grows larger and students take over more of South Oakland’s houses, this culture of tolerance will only spread, no matter what the fine for a violation is. ‘ ‘ ‘ The police department and City Council specifically directed this increase at Oakland, citing the disproportionate amount of offenses in the neighborhood and the neglect for the law among students. But it’s hard to have respect for a law that is only barely enforced. ‘ ‘ ‘ The only real punishment to an open container violation is that it appears on your permanent record, and that hasn’t changed from before City Council raised the fine. Other than that, people are simply going to disregard the fine just like they disregarded it before, because of the way that these violations are tolerated in Oakland. ‘ ‘ ‘ It’s unfortunate that City Council is so naive when it comes to handling problems like these. But it’s clear that the raised fine won’t have any effect on how many people violate open container laws, until the fine is accompanied by increased enforcement and less tolerance.