But whether racial bias was at play is just one of the questions raised by the actions of the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage and Control (ABC) agents who arrested Mr. Johnson outside a Charlottesville bar early Wednesday morning.
Another key question is: How well trained are these enforcement agents – who in Virginia and a number of other states have the power to arrest and carry firearms – particularly when it comes to interacting with young adults?
Alcohol is a fraught issue on college campuses, from alcohol poisoning to its role in sexual assault and other crimes. Studies show that enforcement is an effective tool for cutting down on such abuses, and dedicated enforcement officers are one way to ensure that alcohol-related violations are policed.
But how to enforce those laws while protecting the rights of citizens will be an important question going forward. And, given that ABC agents retain police powers, they should be receiving mandatory cultural training that police officers do, groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union say.
This is not the first time the agents have prompted complaints from college students in Virginia. Two years ago, UVA student Elizabeth Daly was approached at night in a grocery store parking lot by plainclothes ABC agents who mistook a case of water for alcohol. She and two passengers were in her sport utility vehicle and left the parking lot while they were calling 911 because they were frightened of the men, not understanding they were law-enforcement officers. She sued and won a settlement from the department.
In the wake of that case, ABC implemented a number of changes, including requiring the presence of a uniformed officer during such enforcement operations. It also said in a press release that it would, “through training and other reinforcement … promote a reasonable, common-sense philosophy regarding the correlation between the seriousness of an offense and the agent’s response, ensuring the response is proportional to the suspected offense.”
An ABC spokesperson was not able to respond in time for publication to the Monitor’s questions regarding the type of training its enforcement agents receive.
The officers involved in Wednesday’s incident were uniformed. They have been assigned to administrative duties while state police investigate whether they used excessive force in arresting Johnson. But to some observers, it’s clear that better training is still needed – among ABC agents and more broadly across law enforcement.
