Don’t give teen drinking a break

In reference to the front page article on Sunday, May 4, “AST Ridealong: Butte on Patrol,” it would appear that the trooper willfully failed to arrest the teens in accordance with A.S. 47.12.030 and A.S. 04.16.050, and also willing destroyed evidence by having the teens pour out the beer. In doing so, it would appear that the trooper has committed contempt of court, A.S. 09.50.010 (3) and tampered with physical evidence, A.S. 11.56.610 (1), a felony.

It’s hard enough to deal with underage drinking without having a trooper decide that he is judge and jury, and that he will ignore state law. Because the trooper chose to bypass the judicial system, those kids will continue to drink and the troopers will likely wind up pulling one more of them out of a mangled car in the future.

By “giving them a break” now, he has not done them any favors in the long run, and he may well have contributed to the DUI problem. At the very least, it is poor judgment, and from a state trooper, that is not acceptable.

It is not the prerogative of the trooper to decide which laws he will or will not enforce. He gets paid to enforce the law.

Where did they get the beer? Why were their parents not involved? Today’s drinking teen is tomorrow’s drunk driver or tomorrow’s dead driver.

R.K. Butts

Wasilla