[illumin8]

Yeah, unfortunately in the US, drinking in public is against the law, and if you are with people who are breaking the law, you are also considered a criminal. Although it is pretty fucked up, you should be aware of the local laws, especially if you are partying after midnight in public in any city.

I wish things were different, to be honest, but if you put yourself in the law enforcement officer's point of view, what's the difference between a few tourists enjoying a bottle of wine on the street, and a few drunken hooligans causing trouble and starting fights. I'm not saying you were doing anything like that, but a cop really can't discriminate.

I do believe the way they treated you was unacceptable, however, and you should file a complaint against the arresting officers. I believe in NYC you can dial 311 to do this. Police officers should be held to a higher standard and they are trained that the response to any situation should be justified - in other words: violent, belligerent drunk gets slammed into a wall and handcuffed. Happy, carefree drunk tourists should get calmly spoken with and given a warning.

[mquander]

I wish things were different, to be honest, but if you put yourself in the law enforcement officer's point of view, what's the difference between a few tourists enjoying a bottle of wine on the street, and a few drunken hooligans causing trouble and starting fights. I'm not saying you were doing anything like that, but a cop really can't discriminate.

Don't make needless excuses. Firstly, there are many ways the law discriminates in your example; given your description, a cop could probably cite the second group for disorderly conduct or assault.

In addition, cops are not machines who accept a sequence of events and output "legal" or "illegal." Nor should they be, or could they be, given the complexity of law. An individual officer is indeed expected to exercise discretion and to enforce the law in ways that help society. It's impossible to take that discretion away from them, since we don't always have a way to judge the objective truth of situations without trusting some of the people involved, so we should remember that they hold that responsibility and be wary of attempts to discharge it.

[tptacek]

I guess, to the extent you're right that police should be held to a standard of "unfailingly professional while issuing open container tickets to drunk people who are taunting them". We also obviously don't have the full story. His friends apparently were arrested. Arrest is a big deal; it takes cops off their beat or patrol for an hour or two. What did his friends do to make the situation worse?

Open container enforcement is a quality-of-life issue. Tourists and bros won't appreciate it, but you should be aware that in many places, the residents not only do appreciate it, but get angry if it doesn't happen. I'd be pissed if people were wandering up and down my street drinking in the middle of the night.

Finally: with regards to "making excuses", you should get over it. Getting mad at the police for being assholes isn't going to get you anywhere. You can be "message-board-correct" about this all you want, but there is zero power to be had in standing up for your right not to be verbally abused by the police. You are the least of anyone in the NYPD's problems. There is, on the other hand, tremendous power to be had in being able to come back at abusive behavior with calmness, politeness, and appropriate compliance (don't consent to searches).

[GiraffeNecktie]

Let's not confuse our terms. If you break the criminal law you are a criminal. If you violate some other statute (e.g. failing to stop at a stop sign, drinking in public, being undressed in a public place) it's not the same thing. You are not a criminal and shouldn't be treated as such. Yes you can be charged and required to appear in court, but that doesn't, in any way, make you a criminal.