- Fort Worth Police Chief Jeffrey Halstead
You can read my article on Fort Worth Police Chief Jeffrey Halstead’s report to the City Council today updating them on the progress of the investigations into the June 28 raid on the Rainbow Lounge.
And watch Friday’s issue for a more in-depth report and Halstead’s timeline of events from that night, as compiled from testimony by witnesses and officers.
Now that Chief Halstead has labeled the different types of police activities to be employed at nightclubs as “bar checks,” “bar inspections” and “bar investigations,” I want to know which one of those we can most closely expect to associate with a plain old raid and act accordingly in terms of protecting our heads from unexpected blows. And will the police be required to declare their intentions to complete a “check,” “inspection” or “investigation” upon entering the premises or must customers and bar operators be forced to speculate about what is going to happen next. Assuming that “checks,” “inspections” and “investigations” have been listed in that order as to establish the degree of severeness with each in ascending order, if police officers decide to do a “check,” could they then change their minds and upgrade to a “inspection,” and finally if something upsets their delicate sensibilities (like getting felt up by a drunk) could they then switch to a “investigation” and cause someone to accidentally fall on their head and go to the hospital? Just curious about how all of this is going to work. Oh, and one last thing, if the police show up to conduct a “check,” “inspection” or “investigation”, is it OK for customers to just leave before it all gets underway?