Speaking of bars on Water Street, did people hear about the $39,000 fine that “The Corner” received this past Saturday for being overcrowded? I guess the bar had 180 people in it, and it’s only supposed to hold 100 according to the fire code. That’s not just one or two people over, that’s a lot of people. I have to agree with the bar owner though in the article when he says that every bar on Water Street (with a few exceptions) is probably over capacity… how else would they make money? But this is what I don’t get:

Schwartz said the department recently brought back “tavern cars,” patrols dedicated to policing bars for issues like overcrowding and underage drinking.

The stepped-up effort stems from tragedies around the world in which people were killed in overcrowded bars, Schwartz said.

Oh, that’s right. In a metropolitan area like Milwaukee, why wouldn’t we focus a chunk of our police force towards tragedies in overcrowded bars? It’s such a huge problem for our city and is causing a ton of riots, shootings and promoting alcoholism.

And let’s talk about the story that wasn’t covered by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Cory, a friend of the infamous Urban, was in Fitzgibbons Pub on Water a few weeks ago. If you’re familiar with Water Street, I’m willing to bet that Fitzgibbons isn’t on your top 5 places to go on Water for a night out. It’s pretty empty most of the time and doesn’t have a very youthful crowd. So, Cory is sitting there at bartime with probably 6 other patrons and the bartender, finishing up their drinks, and the cops come in. No, they don’t ticket Fitzgibbons for overcrowding… they ticket THE PATRONS in the bar for being in that after bar time. Are you kidding me??? When you are at a bar, how often are you keeping an eye on the clock to make sure you’re out of the bar by 2am. I don’t think I’ve ever turned to one of my friends and said “hey, it’s bar time, we’ve got to go” unless the bar is kicking us out. Obviously, Fitzgibbons wasn’t kicking people out just yet, but the cops felt the need to come in and feel all cool by ticketing the patrons. At least ticket the bar–it’s their fault for serving the liquor, isn’t it?

What do you think about this whole police thing in Milwaukee bars? Do we need that higher presence, or are the police just spending too much money for stupid things?