Three police officers who reportedly let an underage drinker off the hook at the Chilifest celebration in the small town of Snook, Texas, have been banned from working in future Chilifest events because of their unprofessional conduct.
The underage girl was caught by the police, drunk, but the officers proposed a game of ‘rock, paper, scissors’ (RPS) and agreed that if she is able to beat one of the officers, she will avoid charges for the act she committed: drinking as a minor. Section 106.04 on consumption of alcohol by a minor in Texas states that, “a minor commits an offense if he/she consumes an alcoholic beverage.”
The girl ended up beating the police officer who engaged in the game with her, meaning she was able to avoid a criminal record, court appearance, government mandated classes and expulsion from the festival.
The girl’s face blossoms with wide-eyed relief as she slaps her cheeks in astonishment and as friends rush in with hugs to congratulate her in her victory over the officer. The officers then walked away, leaving the girl and her friends jubilating. What is even more embarrassing is that the police officer playing RPS started the game by saying, “one, two, three, go!” instead of, “rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”
Chilifest — a country music festival that took place in Texas throughout April — was massively attended. Bystanders filmed the incident and later uploaded it to many internet sites. The video went viral and caught the attention of authorities, who then made the decision to punish the officers involved.
Burleson County Precinct 2 Constable, Dennis Gaas, said the officers have been officially banned from working in future Chilifests, and it is likely that they might face further punishment.
“Giving an underage drinker a break isn’t what bothered me. It was the fact that the officers were playing games to get someone out of a ticket. It gives all of us a bad name. I have a problem with that,” Gaas told CBS affiliate, KBTX.
Gaas later revealed that one of the officers works for the Cameron Police Department and the other two work for Rogers PD. He did, however, decline to mention their names. It is unclear why.
The officers were said to have been part of a group, hired by nearly 60 different agencies, to work as security during the festival. In total, officers on duty issued 113 citations and made 44 arrests at the Chilifest. Because of this incident, it has become difficult to prosecute those who were arrested legitimately, as the credibility of all officers on duty is now in doubt.
Observers say the police have made themselves the law and they act based on their whims and caprices, with total disregard to laws and procedures governing the state. The girl is free and gone, but the police are in trouble. We hope that this serves as a deterrent to other officers. The police are not the law, they are just enforcers of the law. We will expose them for their gross arrogance. Expect us.
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I don’t have a problem with this. The officer is allowed and supposed to use her discretion for minor offences. Sounds to me she was just trying to make sure the underaged drinker didn’t think getting away with it was a sure thing. Perhaps a small error in judgment making it a game, but not really that big a deal. I certainly agree with the result… it is ludicrous for someone to get a criminal record for underaged drinking.
I fully agree with you. These are good cops I’m sure they would react the same if it were their own child and that is all I ask. Any cop can enforce a law it takes a good officer to teach a lesson even if it is one of compassion. I congratulate these officers and promise you that girl will think twice before she does this in public again.
Not issuing the ticket is a big deal. The girl made a mistake and her error was brought to her attention. What isn’t shown in the video is if the girl had a drink in her hand or was visually seen by the officers drinking the beverage. According to the law quoted: Section 106.04 on consumption of alcohol by a minor in Texas states that, “a minor commits an offense if he/she consumes an alcoholic beverage.” It would be hard for a prosecutor to take this to court. The girl could defend that she was drinking mouthwash.
The officers did a nice thing for this girl. She wasn’t causing trouble or being a nuisance.
i dont see the big issue here. a child was taught a lesson and avoided the record and ticket. we should be praising these cops for showing compassion and giving the law enforcement a GOOD image. is a minor pffence not up to the officers discretion? maybe making such a public sectacle of the fact i was a game may not have been yhe best course of action but it shows that cops are not robots and not what is plastered over the media, that they are trigger happy. beside 21 is an absurd drinking age. my country it is 18 which seems fair to me.
Just because the officers were easy going people doesn’t make them bad officers. In fact, that’s what is NEEDED in this country more than anything. I can see the point of view that it would be unfair for others to get charged while this girl walked free but it doesn’t deserve severe punishment to the officers. If I was their commanding officer, they would get at maximum a warning that they have created an unfair situation and if they are going to do this again then play RPS with everyone but not just one girl :D.