The police officers on duty have to be somewhere... would you rather they be camped out in front of your house where nothing is likely to happen?

Focusing patrol in areas where there have been repeated offenses is one thing, but harassing unproblematic customers is another. I've witnessed some downright disrespectful behavior from police officers during these stakeouts. Targeted patrolling cannot be used to justify unprovoked harassment.

I would love to follow up with them and ask, which "disturbances" do they deal with when camping out on William Street? With all the crime Dan Telvock has been reporting so well, I believe a person stumbling a little down the sidewalk is the least of our worries...

Garrett, it's been a little more than people stumbling on a sidewalk. One instance was a fight in the street that had reports of 50 people blocking the street, there was a pretty serious stabbing at another local bar and a few more in the past 12 months that I think many would consider pretty serious. The most-recent incident brought at least eight police cruisers to downtown on a Thursday night, including two state police cruisers. I'm not sure the focus is on people stumbling down the sidewalk....at least not recently.

Can't he/she just walk home, Mr. Fortune?

Cmon Dan! Whats wrong with a few stumblers?

You're right Dan. Drunks never get in their cars. What was I thinking?!

Er, Dan the original reference was to a hypothetical "stumbler" - someone who THEORETICALLY could get in a car and reek havoc. Its not that complicated.

Glad to see you're still alive! As Aristotle used to say to Plato: "I'm outta here, baby."

Just makes me wonder if there is an ulterior motive here, besides public safety.

come on folks. crime or atleast, laws that 'might' be broken can happen anywhere. we all know the saying "stuff happens". the police cant be everywhere. but they can, when not on serious calls, 'patrol' their assigned area. some may even sit in a spot not likely to be a hotspot of criminal activity, but you never know when or where it will happen. funny, when they are needed some say they are never around... flip side... when not needed they are all over the place.
personally i work in a local rest/bar. all the time alcohol induced buttheads are causing a bad night for those patrons who do labibe, but do so at an enjoyable non harmful way. i for one am glad to see a patrol unit pass by now and then. it DOES have an effect when passing by.
not to mention my business, and others like it, are thankful the police come when we call them. i know legally they cant sit right at our front door, but i dont mind if they are a stones throw away.
remember folks, if WE werent the bad ones, they wouldnt exist!
PEACE!!!!