By JACK MINCH, Sun Staff
LOWELL -- Within minutes of the 2 a.m. closing time for bars, Lowell and state police started their crackdown on unruly bar patrons Friday.
For Interim Police Superintendent Kenneth Lavallee, people noticing an elevated police presence is a sign that Friday's zero-tolerance initiative got the point across.
"In and of itself, that is a method of deterrence," he said.
Most of the bars were double-carding, meaning asking for two forms of identification, he said.
Tired of the social problems that come with late-night crowds spilling out of the watering holes, Lavallee reached out to the state police to help with the crackdown.
"What people are concerned about late at night -- business people, the people who own shops and restaurants and people who live downtown -- is the disorder," Lavalee said hours before the crackdown started. "They are concerned about their businesses being vandalized, businesses being impacted by the disorderly behavior of the patrons of some of these liquor establishments."
He cited the example of a booze-fueled street brawl between six men a week ago. Two of the men suffered severe facial injuries and three men are facing felony assault charges for their roles in the fight. "I'm committed to impacting the environment downtown and making it a better place for people to go," Lavallee said.
This story appeared in the Lowell Sun on Sunday, January 7, 2007