‘Wet parks,' ‘B.Y.O.B. gardens' suggested to combat public drinking citations

An alternative approach to writing citations for public drinking would give Seattleites a legal place to drink in public.

The Seattle Community Police Commission came out with a report on Friday that suggests the city establish so-called “wet parks” or “bring your own beer” gardens.

For just opening a beer in public, you can get a $27 ticket.

According to the Seattle Community Police Commission, those cited for public consumption in recent years have been disproportionately African-American or Native American.

The commission, formed to identify racial disparities at Seattle Police Department, has concluded the citations do not work.

"Nobody thinks it's effective and they would prefer something that does work and coincidentally something that would not be generating these patterns of unequal enforcement," said commission co-chair Lisa Daugaard.

Daugaard said Seattle should recognize the reality that people will drink in public.

"Why don't we organize and manage that behavior so its not so problematic for neighborhoods," Daugaard asked.

This is why they suggest the “wet parks” or “bring your own beer” gardens, where people can legally drink alcohol or be connected to support services if they drink too much.

"It could be in the open, it could be in an enclosed building," Daugaard said.

The commission also suggests allowing people to drink or use drugs in homeless camps, so that activity isn’t pushed to places like supermarket bathrooms.

Related: Separately from this commission, there have been discussions of safe injection sites in Seattle. Click here to read more.

The commission does endorse the idea of safe injection sites for heroin users.

Cox Media Group