A public intoxication charge was dropped against Indianapolis Colts reserve defensive lineman John Gill though he was obviously seriously drunk when he was picked up:
Gill was found passed out in a ditch in the 3600 block of Lafayette Road at about 4 a.m. Sunday, according to a police report. An officer had been sent to check on a man said to be on the ground in front of a car. Gill reportedly had trouble standing, smelled of alcohol and spoke with a slur, the report said.
There was no explanation for why the charges were dropped, so I checked through a number of stories to see I could at least find some expression of outrage over special treatment for a football player. I finally found this:
Indianapolis police typically allow people who are arrested for public intoxication to sleep it off and leave jail without charges.
Remind me to go to Indy if I feel like getting drunk and raising hell in public -- i don't believe that's the practice here. I presume the police would levy charges if the public intoxication escalated into property damage or a major disturbance of the peace. That's fine -- "a no harm, no foul" policy can be defended, especially if police resources are strained by major crimes (as they certainly are in Indianapolis). But a selective enfforcement policy almost invites abuse.
