AUGUSTA, Ga. – A letter from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office to downtown bars came quickly after the alleged attack of Brittany Stevens. Stevens says she was assaulted by two women and a man after leaving The Scene Night Club on August 3rd.
The letter reminds broad street bar owners of the alcohol ordnance that states: ‘the establishments retain the greatest responsibility for their patrons’.
The sheriff’s office made it clear that they need bar owners’ help.
“It’s a responsibility not only with the bar owners, it’s with the citizens and the sheriff’s office…everybody, the business owners, the property owners. Everybody needs to be working together,” says Patrick Clayton, Chief Deputy of RCSO.
In the letter, Sheriff Richard Roundtree calls for all bar owners to have a security plan that covers everything from someone who’s too drunk to someone who has a gun.
“We told them basically we’ll help you prepare an operations plan, but they can do what they want, but we just want to have a plan. Just like everything we do we always try to have a plan,” says Deputy Clayton.
They even want bars to be responsible for taking removing problem patrons and taking them to their cars, if a fight or other incident occurs.
Clayton says bar owners are on-board.
“Everybody that we talk to on Friday night was very receptive to it. I can’t of anybody that said well I don’t want to do this,” says Deputy Clayton.
But he says it’s not just up to the bar owners. People who visit those establishments need to help as well.
“As far as the citizens, how they can really help us. Instead of concentrating on trying to use your cell phone to try to get video of them, drop a dime on the sheriff’s office, so we can get there as quickly as possible,” says Deputy Clayton.
